A body was found in the woods and now a Lexington man is charged with murder, cops say

A man was arrested more than seven months after a body was found near a wooded area in Lexington County, according to the West Columbia Police Department.

Charles Edward Way was charged with murder, police said Monday in a news release. The 40-year-old Lexington resident was taken into custody Sunday, according to the release.

Way was charged with killing Michael Lawrence Crolley, police said. No bond was set for Way, who is being held at the Lexington County Detention Center, jail records show.

Body found

On July 3, 2022, Crolley’s body was found in a wood line near the 2600 block of U.S. 1/Augusta Road, according to the release. That’s next to Exit 111 on Interstate 26.

The 62-year-old West Columbia resident died at the scene after suffering multiple blunt force injuries, according to Lexington County Coroner Margaret Fisher.

Officers were responding to reports of an injured person at about 5 p.m. when they discovered Crolley’s body, police said.

Information about how Crolley wound up near I-26 was not available, but the death was determined to be a homicide, according to the release.

There was no word how investigators connected Way to Crolley’s death, or a motive for the killing.

Crolley’s criminal record

Crolley was a registered sex offender in South Carolina, and was facing pending charges for separate crimes in Lexington County at the time of his death, records show.

Crolley is listed on the sex offender registry for criminal sexual conduct convictions in 1980 and 1999, in addition to a 2009 arrest for failing to register as a sex offender.

He was facing a pending charge from a Jan. 1 drug arrest for distribution of meth, and was released on a $5,000 bond, Lexington County court records show. Crolley was also facing five pending charges for recent arrests on traffic violations, according to court records.

In addition to the sex crimes, Crolley pleaded guilty to a third-degree assault and battery charge in 2012, as well as a check fraud charge in 2009, court records show.

Way’s criminal record

Way also has a criminal history in Lexington County.

Court records show that in January, Way pleaded guilty to charges for receiving stolen goods (chop shop, alter, deface, destroy, disguise, etc. a vehicle id. number); possession, conceal, sell, or dispose of stolen vehicle (value more than $2,000 but less than $10,000); second-degree domestic violence; and drug possession (possession of less than one gram of meth. or cocaine base).

Dating back to 2005, Way has been arrested on more than a dozen charges in separate incidents in Lexington County, court records show.