SPARTANBURG, S.C. (AP) - A man has been charged with murder in the slaying nearly five years ago of a pregnant South Carolina woman who was found strangled in her home, state agents said Monday.
The charge came after prosecutors asked for an independent review of the slaying because of misconduct by the initial investigator.
Brandon Eugene Maddox broke into Erika Spencer’s home in Spartanburg in May 2015 and raped her and choked her, according to arrest warrants from the State Law Enforcement Division.
Maddox, 28, was arrested last week and charged with murder, first-degree criminal sexual conduct and burglary, state agents said. Court records didn’t list a lawyer for him on the latest charges.
The Spartanburg County Coroner’s Office initially ruled that Spencer died of natural causes, but 11 months after her death, changed its ruling to homicide and said the 20-year-old woman was strangled.
The warrants did not give a motive for the killing.
The initial Spartanburg County deputy investigating the killing, Lorin Williams, was fired for lying to get a warrant in an unrelated drug case, Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright told WHNS-TV last year.
The sheriff and prosecutors asked state agents to review Spencer’s case as they looked over all of Williams’ investigations.
Maddox was convicted and sent to state prison for nearly four years on unrelated charges that included attempted murder and grand larceny last May, according to state prison records.
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