A father and stepmother have been arrested for the 1989 killing of their five-year-old son, Justin Turner.
Victor Lee Turner and Megan R. Turner (formerly known as Pamela K. Turner) were taken into custody Wednesday at their home in Cross Hill, South Carolina.
Justin, 5, went missing in South Carolina the morning of March 3, 1989 after he reportedly left home to catch the school bus. Police spent two days searching for the boy before his father found him in the family’s camper.
Prior to finding his son, Victor was caught on camera going into the camper. He returned seconds later crying, saying “My son’s in there. Someone hurt him.”
He told police he did not touch his son nor did he make any attempts to help him.
The investigation
According to WCDB, throughout the investigation the Turners provided inconsistent stories and details that didn’t make sense.
“Initially they provided information that he got on the school bus and went to school, but never got off the bus. That was not true. He never got on that bus. He never got on that bus because he was dead inside that house,” said Berkeley County Sheriff Duane Lewis said.
At the time, the coroner ruled out an accidental death. The autopsy revealed the boy had been sexually assaulted and strangled.
“We haven’t ruled out anybody,” then-Berkeley County Sheriff M.C. Cannon said at the time. “We’re taking a hard look at everybody and we’re just going from one to another. Every time we get a lead, we’re going to be knocking on the door.”
Eventually the case went cold.
The arrest
In 2021 the case was reopened. Physical evidence collected at the scene and autopsy was reevaluated using new technology.
Based on the authorities’ findings they were able to make an arrest.
“We know for a fact that Justin was strangled to death. There were ligature marks on his neck. We recovered what we believe to be evidence of the murder. We have a lot of forensic evidence. We got here because of new technology and forensic medicine,” said Sheriff Lewis.
The couple were arrested Wednesday at their home in Cross Hill.
“All we want is justice,” Justin’s cousin, Amy Parsons, who was 8 at the time, said during Wednesday’s news conference.
“And I want to see our justice system do what it was intended to do and put these two people where they deserve to be, because they’ve walked for 34 years … while our family has suffered.”
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