In an effort to gather more details about the case of an off-duty Aiken County Sheriff's Deputy charged with involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of his wife, the Aiken Standard filed Freedom of Information Act requests Tuesday with the South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division and other investigating agencies.
Sheriff's Deputy Matthew Blakley, 24, who has since been fired, was charged with involuntary manslaughter. He told responding officers who arrived at his North Augusta home Saturday evening that he had shot his wife by accident and that she needed help, according to the report. Candace L. Blakley, 24, was pronounced dead at the scene from a gunshot wound to the head, according to Aiken County Coroner Tim Carlton. The incident occurred at 7:36 p.m. Saturday on the 1900 block of Coulter Avenue.
The newspaper is requesting access to dash-cam video from the vehicles of the responding North Augusta officers, which are considered public records under the S.C. Freedom of Information Act. While body-cam video is exempt from the Act under a law passed by the General Assembly earlier this month and signed into law by S.C. Governor Nikki Haley, the newspaper also is requesting the release of body-cam footage for the North Augusta officers. The new law allows investigators to decide whether to release body-worn camera footage if it serves the public interest.
Specifically, the law is designed to govern the use of body-worn footage as evidence in cases that involve alleged misconduct on the part of a law enforcement officer.
Identical FOIA requests were sent Tuesday to SLED, the City of North Augusta and Second Circuit Solicitor Strom Thurmond Jr. The agencies have 15 business days to respond to the requests.
Few details have been released in the case.
When officers arrived, a white male was running toward the officer with blood on his hands, police said.
The subject was asked to get on the ground and was held at gunpoint until other officers arrived, according to the report.
Another male subject, who identified himself as Matthew Murphy, was in the home and also had blood on his hands, according to the report. He told officers that the victim was in the bathroom and deceased, the report said.
Murphy told police that he attempted chest compressions, according to the report.
The victim was found in the bath tub, and an M-4 rifle and a shell casing were found on the bathroom floor with a broken wedding band, according to the report.
Matthew Blakley was arrested Sunday and transported to the Aiken County detention center where he was later released on bond.
His arrest warrant read, "that he unlawfully without malice killed his wife, Candice Blakley, with reckless disregard by shooting her with an M-4 rifle in their home ..."
"SLED was called in to investigate because the alleged perpetrator and the alleged witness are Aiken County Sheriff's deputies," Carlton stated in a press release.