Across South Carolina

Suspect is arrested in teen's shooting death

GREENVILLE - A suspect has been arrested in the shooting death of a Greenville man this month, police said.

Derrick Lamar Black, 18, was killed Aug. 13 outside a home.

Shortly after the shooting, Timothy Young was treated at Greenville Memorial Hospital for a gunshot wound to the back, police Lt. Mike Gambrell said.

Investigators said damage to Mr. Young's car and a gun found with Mr. Black helped them determine Mr. Young had been wounded in a shoot-out.

Police suspect robbery was motive in death

NORTH CHARLESTON - A North Charleston man has died a day after he was shot in the head, police said.

Sherman Smalls was shot at about 5 a.m. Saturday at a mobile home park.

He was taken to the University of South Carolina hospital in Charleston, where he died about 2 a.m. Sunday. Police think robbery was involved because Mr. Small's back pocket was turned inside out.

Billboards support boy sentenced as adult

ROCK HILL - Supporters of convicted killer Christopher Pittman hope his young face on a billboard along Interstate 26 will stir awareness about how South Carolina's justice system treated the juvenile.

Barbara Andrews, of Michigan, said she was outraged in February when the Chester County boy was sentenced as an adult to 30 years in prison for killing his grandparents when he was just 12 years old.

Ms. Andrews, a housewife, started a Web site devoted to Mr. Pittman's cause. She helped raise $2,210 for the 14-by-48-foot billboard that reads: "Free Christopher Pittman!" and "A CHILD convicted as an Adult" along the road in Dorchester County.

Mr. Pittman's maternal grandmother, Delnora Duprey, said the Web site and billboard have the blessing of both Mr. Pittman and his family.

Pupils may medicate themselves at school

SPARTANBURG - With a new school year under way, more pupils soon will be free to give themselves medicine at school under a new law signed by Gov. Mark Sanford.

The law creates a uniform standard across the state to deal with pupil medication. It requires local school districts to adopt a policy creating an Individual Health Care Plan for students with special health care needs.

This plan will detail the health monitoring of the pupil during the school day. The state Department of Education also must notify school districts and parents of the change in policy.

The Individual Health Plan allows pupils with chronic illnesses such as asthma or diabetes to self-monitor and self-medicate.

This can be done with the consent of the doctor and parent, said Sen. William Mescher, R-Pinopolis.

Mr. Mescher said that the bill originally was intended to cover pupils with asthma and allergies but that it now "covers any medication that the doctor and parent believe should be carried on the body of the individual."