Charleston family seeks accountability for killer’s early release

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - A murder victim’s family says those responsible for the release of their son’s killer have not faced any consequences even though the state supreme court ruled the release improper.

The Smalls family has since taken it upon themselves to seek it out.

“We don’t want this to fade away and be pushed under the rug,” father, Carl Smalls said. “It was straight up corruption.”

The last two months have been quiet for the Charleston family after they sounded the alarm that Jeroid Price had been released from prison 16 years early.

A jury convicted Price for the murder of their son, Carl “Dash” Smalls Jr.

Their concerns led to an expeditious hearing with the South Carolina Supreme Court in late April, reversing the order that freed him.

In a formal complaint to the Office of Disciplinary Council, Carl and Lillie Smalls named retired Judge Casey Manning, 5th Circuit Solicitor Byron Gipson and Representative Todd Rutherford in a formal complaint to the Office of Disciplinary Council.

They titled it “Unequal Scales of Justice” calling their actions a “bridge too far.”

“The only way they will have any changes and for anybody be held accountable it would be to come from us because these folks are not going to do it on their own,” Smalls said. “The people that wear robes and suits, what if was your son, daughter, mother, father, your family member, that’s murdered senselessly like this? How would you feel? And it seems like it just doesn’t matter to them. At all,” he added.

Late last year, Manning signed an order behind closed doors with Rutherford, releasing Price from prison 16 years early.

Gipson’s office was in the process of filing a formal motion to do so but the order went through before they did.

The Smalls found out about it the same day that Price would be a free man.

“It is a lot of pain, there’s a lot of suffering,” mother Lillie Smalls said. “It’s like a ball that just continues to roll down the hill, just never stops. These men need to be punished. No other family to have to go through this.”

It has been 76 days since the Supreme Court reversed the order freeing Price. He’s since remained unaccounted for.

State and federal authorities are offering a reward of up to $60,000 for information leading to his re-arrest.

RELATED: FBI adds $30K to reward pool for info leading to arrest of SC fugitive

Meanwhile, the Smalls haven’t given up on hope that he’ll be caught and check for updates every night.

Rep. Rutherford and Manning could not be reached in time for publication. In response to a request for comment, Solicitor Gipson stated it would be improper to make any comment at this time.

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