Across South Carolina

Campobello man is killed by freight train

GAFFNEY, S.C. --- Investigators say a 42-year-old Campobello man rose up when he heard the whistle, but didn't move off the tracks and was killed by a freight train in Cherokee County.

Coroner Dennis Fowler says Larry Jones was hit early Saturday morning.

Mr. Fowler says the train conductor saw Mr. Jones rise when the whistle blew, but he didn't appear to try to get off the tracks.

Investigators are trying to figure out where Mr. Jones was before he died and why he was on the train tracks.

Theme park reopens; modest crowds visit

MYRTLE BEACH --- Freestyle Music Park reopened with its new name and theme Saturday.

Marketing Director John Stine wouldn't tell WMBF-TV how many people visited the park, but said it was in line with projections.

The $400 million, 55-acre park was the largest single tourism investment in South Carolina history when it opened as Hard Rock Park last year in Myrtle Beach. It closed in September when its owners filed for bankruptcy protection.

The park wasn't packed Saturday. There was little wait for rides, food or souvenirs. The official grand opening for the renamed park will be June 12.

Teen driver charged after case is reopened

SPARTANBURG, S.C. --- A teen driver is facing a reckless homicide charge after the stepmother of a boy killed in a crash insisted troopers review their report.

Mary Allen told WSPA-TV that troopers initially thought the then 15-year-old driver was going 51 mph in a 40 mph zone when his car ran off the road and crashed into a field of kudzu near Campobello last September.

But Ms. Allen says her surviving stepson told her that he and his brother were screaming for the driver to slow down and he ignored them.

Troopers reopened the report, and after some recalculation, determined the teen was driving 66 mph. They charged him with reckless homicide.

Authorities still sort through man's killing

EUTAWVILLE, S.C. --- Authorities say they haven't decided whether a man in jail for a weapons charge related to the killing of another man will also face a murder charge.

Orangeburg County Sheriff Larry Williams told The Times and Democrat of Orangeburg that 28-year-old Napier Harris was charged with a weapons violation shortly after the May 15 shooting in Eutawville that killed 32-year-old Henry Clark.

But Sheriff Williams says investigators have conflicting stories about what happened and evidence hasn't matched some of the allegations.