Still pending in the Family Court

Officers of the court are telling 101.7/WGOG NEWS that a pair of juvenile referrals remains pending in the Oconee County Family Court.  Those referrals were made last year after a bush hogger was found dead on a tractor that ran off a pasture into the woods near Westminster.  According to an announcement by the Oconee Sheriff’s Office on July 2, 2021, a petition was filed in the Family Court in reference to charging an 8-year old and a 9-year old with involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of Danny Andrew Smith, 62 years old.  At the time, the following statement was made by Sheriff Crenshaw: “After a consultation with the Solicitor’s Office, and based on the evidence obtained in our ongoing investigation, we believe that both juvenile males discharged a firearm in a reckless manner in the direction of Mr. Smith who was bush hogging on some family property.”  Because juveniles under 10 years old may not be detained, the two were remanded to the custody of their parents, pending judicial proceedings.