BENNETTSVILLE, S.C. — The Bennettsville community is mourning the tragic loss of 18-year-old Towan Harrington, who was fatally shot Monday evening at the Bennets Pointe Apartments on Cheraw Street.
According to Marlboro County Coroner DeAron Smith, Harrington, a Bennettsville resident, was pronounced dead after authorities responded to the scene. His death remains under investigation by the Marlboro County Coroner’s Office, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, and the Marlboro County Sheriff’s Office. No additional details surrounding the circumstances of the shooting have been released.
Neighbors say the violence has shaken an otherwise quiet apartment complex. Lee McRae, who has lived at Bennets Pointe for three years, described the community as peaceful and close-knit.
“It’s a nice place. We all get along, and I feel like family out here,” McRae said. “This incident here, it did happen. It’s just one of those things, and it’s bad.”
McRae recalled hearing a knock on his door Monday night while watching television, but by the time he reached it, no one was there. Authorities later informed him that it had been Harrington. Blood was later found outside McRae’s home and on his vehicle.
“I gotta tell myself, if he just stayed there, he might have gotten help,” McRae said. “When your time comes, you got to leave this world. We hope and pray that he was ready.”
As investigators continue working to determine what led to the shooting, loved ones and neighbors are left grieving the loss of a young life cut short far too soon.
