BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C.—Tucked quietly away down Boone Hill Parkway in Summerville lies the final resting place of 5-year-old Justin Turner. Twenty-seven years after his untimely death rattled the small community of Moncks Corner, the tragedy continues to haunt his best friend, Justin Smith.
“I’ve been scared mostly. My grandma still lives at the house across the street from where he was abducted at. When I look over there, I still get nervous,” stated Smith.
Growing up, the two boys were like two peas in a pod. Along with sharing the same name, they also shared the same age, attended Whitesville Elementary School together and were even in the same classroom. They seemed inseparable.
“He was fun, outgoing, very gentle,” stated Smith. “We’d always just play and hang out.”
However, their friendship would come to an abrupt end in early March 1989. After Turner failed to get on the bus one morning, his lifeless body would be discovered only a few days later. According to Smith, when Turner didn’t show up at the school, he initially didn’t think too much about it.
“He always came over in the morning [to my house] to wait on the bus—only he didn’t. He wasn’t on the bus. The first thing I thought was that Justin must be sick,” recalled Smith. “When my brother and I got home from school, we were at my grandma’s just playing. His stepmom came over and asked if we had seen him. I guess this was 4:30, 5:30 in the afternoon. She asked us if he was at school. I told her that he wasn’t on the bus, and I thought he was homesick.”
Smith says after speaking with Turner’s stepmother, Pamela Turner, that’s when he knew something was wrong. After two days of extensive searching, Turner’s body was located in a storage box inside a camper that belonged to his stepmother and father on Horseshoe Road in Moncks Corner. To this day, Smith says he is baffled by how Turner’s body ended up in the camper considering that it was searched several times by first responders.
“My cousin and brother actually helped search for him. They had looked in the camper many times. I remember that they found him on a Sunday,” stated Smith.
An autopsy showed that the little boy had been strangled with a strap and sexually assaulted with a cylindrical object. Prior to Turner’s homicide, Smith recalled his friend appearing unusually nervous. His friend, however, never once mentioned being abused or afraid of anyone, Smith added.
“Before he went missing, he was allowed to come over and play. However, he came over one time and he was nervous. I asked him, ‘why?’ He just said that he wasn’t allowed to be over here playing,” recalled Smith. “He wasn’t supposed to be out of the yard. He wasn’t supposed to be over there playing with me. He just told me he would get in trouble.”
That encounter was one of the final times Smith would see his friend. Even years after Turner’s murder, there’s not a day that goes by that Smith doesn’t think about his friend. He frequently visits Turner’s tomb at Summerville Cemetery-Mausoleum. In memory of Turner, Smith also has Turner’s face and name tattooed on his right calf.
“I got it about six or seven years ago. My brother is a tattoo artist and did it for me,” stated Smith.
Nearly 30 years later, Turner’s murder remains the biggest cold case in Berkeley County. While Turner’s stepmother was initially charged with her stepson’s death, the charge was eventually dropped. However, she remains a suspect in the case. Smith says he can only speculate as to what happened to his friend.
“I hope they find the people who did it and put them in the electric chair,” stated Smith.
How you can help:
If you have any information on this case, you’re asked to call the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office or Crimestoppers at (843) 554-1111. You can remain anonymous and even qualify for a cash reward.
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