BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C. – Almost 35 years after the high-profile homicide of 5-year-old Justin Turner of Moncks Corner, Berkeley County Sheriff Duane Lewis announced Wednesday during a news conference that investigators have arrested the very people he once shared a home with.
Megan Renee Turner, Justin’s stepmother, and Victor “Buddy” Lee Turner, Justin’s biological father, are both facing murder charges. They were booked into the Hill-Finklea Detention Center in Moncks Corner on Tuesday afternoon.
“We have dedicated detectives who are committed to reviewing and investigating criminal cases where factors have prevented a timely resolution of justice.” Berkeley County Sheriff Duane Lewis said. “These detectives have worked hard to be sure that the life of Justin Lee Turner is remembered and that his murderers are brought to justice.”
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The pair were arrested at their home in Cross Hill, South Carolina by Berkeley County detectives with assistance from Laurens County sheriff’s deputies. They were then brought to Berkeley County and booked into the jail.
“I’m hoping and I’m praying that Justin is looking down from heaven and rejoicing that today there is still some justice in this country,” Lewis said during a news conference.
Justin’s remaining family from his biological mother’s side attended the press conference. Amy Finely Parsons was just 8 years old when she learned of her cousin’s tragic death. She thanked God for getting them to this point as well as the sheriff for listening to her family’s cries.
“From here, all we want is justice, 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. They’ve had freedom for 34 years while our family has suffered. They don’t deserve another day from behind those bars,” Finley Parsons said.
Victor and Megan have lived in the Upstate for decades, having left their home in Berkeley County not long after Justin’s death. Megan also changed her name. She previously went by “Pamela.”
“After moving, nobody ever heard from them again. Isn’t that strange? I never got one phone call from his daddy or stepmother, ‘What are y’all doing about my son’s death?’ What does that tell you?” Lewis said.
This is the second time that Megan has faced a charge of murder in connection with the case. She was originally charged about nine months after Justin’s death. However, the charge was eventually dropped in 1990 due to insufficient evidence, according to the solicitor’s office at the time.
While she was never proven guilty of killing Justin, she remained a suspect in the case for all these years, according to investigators.
Victor was not originally charged in his son’s death, but investigators at the time believed he may have known what happened.
Justin Turner Disappearance: March 3, 1989
According to an affidavit, on Friday, March 3, 1989, Megan falsely reported Justin as missing to the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office by claiming he failed to get off the school bus that afternoon. Investigators said witnesses, however, verified that Justin never got on the bus to Whitesville Elementary School that morning and was absent from school.
Investigators said Megan deviated from her normal routine the morning she claimed she did not see Justin get on the school bus. Instead, Megan alleged she was not feeling well and took a shower when Justin left the house to go to the bus stop alone.
During the investigation, deputies said Megan admitted to witnesses that she had an altercation with Justin before he was last seen alive inside the Turner home. They also said she provided misinformation about her specific whereabouts the morning that her stepson disappeared.
Justin Turner’s Body Found: March 5, 1989
A large search for Justin’s whereabouts involving various law enforcement agencies lasted for two days. On March 5, 1989, it was Victor who found his son’s lifeless body in a cabinet inside a camper in the yard of the couple’s home.
“The specific location inside the camper where the body was concealed by the offender highly suggests familiarity with the camper and its floor plan. Defendant and Co-defendant are the only person with access to the camper both having possession of the only keys to the lock securing the camper door located on their respective keyrings,” a portion of the affidavit reads.
On the last day of the search, a photographer working for WCBD-TV video recorded Victor entering the camper as well as opening cabinets and drawers in search of Justin. According to the warrant for Victor’s arrest, he was seen within seconds of entering the camper, finding Justin’s body and commenting, “My boy is in there.”
“Defendant’s deliberate actions and obvious behavior of both defendants reveal and are highly suggestive that the defendant and co-defendant knew exactly where the victim was located hidden inside the camper before the defendant’s feigned search and discovery of the victim,” the warrant reads. “Rather than react to finding his son and personally checking for any indication of life whatsoever, the defendant instead backed out of the camper commenting, ‘He’s in there, my son is in there. Somebody’s hurt him.’ The defendant later told investigators, ‘He looked dead. I could feel that something was wrong with him. I did NOT touch him.’”
During the search, investigators also said that Victor was overheard by witnesses nervously asking law enforcement at the scene, “What if someone had done harm to Justin, such as killed him, and that someone was in the family, what would happen to them?” Authorities viewed Victor’s question as unusual and telling.
Investigators believe that Megan and Victor were the last two people who saw Justin alive.
After recovering Justin’s body, his death was ruled a homicide. According to investigators, Justin had been strangled and sexually assaulted. Fast forward to today and Lewis said new technology has led to new evidence in the case.
“We recovered what we believe to be the evidence of the murder. We have a lot of forensic evidence. We got here because of new technology. We all know how things have progressed over the years,” Lewis said during the news conference.
Justin Turner: A Life Taken Too Soon
Had Justin lived, he would have been 40 years old.
“He could have gone to college, got married, had a child, been a productive citizen. But he wasn’t because we believe these two people took that away from him,” Sheriff Lewis said.
Justin is buried at Summerville Cemetery and Mausoleum – the same place as his biological mother, Elaine Pace, who died in 2004 at age 46.
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