On the afternoon of Sunday, September 7, 2025, deputies responded to McLeod Medical Center in Dillon after a man arrived with multiple gunshot wounds. The victim was identified as Darrick Lamont Jones, a 48-year-old Black male from Dillon, and he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival. Investigators determined the shooting occurred earlier that day on Smutherman Drive in the Riverdale community.

Agents from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and the Dillon County Sheriff’s Office secured the Smutherman Drive scene to collect evidence and canvas for witnesses. Initial inquiries found Jones had been taken to the hospital in a private vehicle and that several people were present when the shooting happened. On September 15, 2025, 38-year-old Marcus Demonshia Blakely of Florence was arrested on an obstructing justice charge after investigators alleged he removed items from the scene; he was not charged with homicide. As of late September 2025 the investigation remained active and authorities offered a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the murder.

If anyone in Riverdale or the Smutherman Drive area that day has information, please share what you know with investigators.