CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, S.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Emanuel Bedford was wheeled in to see a judge Wednesday morning after escaping from the Chesterfield County Detention Center on Saturday.
Officials say the 30-year-old murder suspect suffered a few injuries from the incident.
The fourth circuit solicitor’s office requested Bedford be moved to safekeeping with the South Carolina Department of Corrections. State law requires inmates to be evaluated before being moved.
“He clearly fits within the statute and within the governor’s executive order from 2000,” said Deputy Solicitor Kernard Dedmond. “That sets forth the circumstances for safekeeping because of his escape. He clearly fits into that.”
Under South Carolina Code of Laws, an individual held in county pre-trial confinement may be transferred to the custody of the SCDC if considered to be a high escape risk; exhibits extremely violent and uncontrollable behavior; or need to be removed from the county facility to protect the individual from the general population or from other detainees.
Bedford’s lawyer says he’s agreed to an evaluation.
“Now tonight, I’m not gonna be able to sleep because we had to come down here and face him,” said Patricia Hammonds, Deidre Reid’s mother.
Hammonds says it’s only been three days since she heard the news that her daughter’s alleged killer escaped the county jail.
Bedford was charged with murder in 2022 after authorities found blood confirmed to be Reid’s from her truck. Reid’s family says she went missing in September 2021.
Hammonds says learning of Bedford’s escape is unsettling
“He could’ve come there and killed us,” she said.
