Man charged with murder after bodies were found at Midlands home, SC sheriff says

Weeks after the bodies of two men were found at a Midlands home, another man was arrested on murder charges, the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday.

Caleb Beryl Davis was charged with killing Malik R. Butler, 23, and Theron G. Byrd Jr., 22, the sheriff’s office said in a news release.

At about 1 a.m. on Feb. 7, deputies responded reports of a shooting at a residence on Marsh Lane, according to the sheriff’s office. The bodies of Butler and Byrd were found inside the home, Fairfield County Coroner Chris Hill said.

Butler and Byrd, former high school football players at Fairfield Central High, had been shot, according to the sheriff’s office.

“We want to express our deepest sorrow to the families and friends of Malik Butler and Theron Byrd,” Sheriff Will Montgomery said in the release. “This was a senseless tragedy and we know that both of these families are hurting. We are glad to have been able to make an arrest in this investigation.”

Since the discovery of the bodies, deputies working on the investigation were able to develop Davis as a suspect, according to the release. Information about how deputies connected Davis to the killings was not available.

In addition to murder, Davis was also charged with two counts of possession of a weapon during a violent crime, the sheriff’s office said.

There was no word on a motive for the shooting.

Davis was already in custody at the Fairfield County Detention Center on unrelated charges since Feb. 24 when he was charged in Butler and Byrd’s deaths Tuesday, according to the release. Information about the charge/charges from the Feb. 24 arrest were not available.

Davis was out on bond from a February 2021 murder charge when Butler and Byrd were fatally shot, the sheriff’s office said. A $150,000 bond was set on that charge against the 19-year-old Davis, Fairfield County Court records show.

No bond has been set on the latest charges, according to the release.

Both the coroner’s office and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division assisted the sheriff’s office in the investigation.

“I want to thank those members in the community who willingly talked with our investigators to help us put all of the pieces of this investigation together. Without our community partnerships that we have, and are so proud of, making headway in investigations such as this would be much more difficult,” said Montgomery who also thanked his deputies and SLED.

Despite the arrest, Montgomery said the investigation is still ongoing and asked anyone with any information about this incident to contact the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office at 803-635-4141, CrimeStoppers at 888-CRIME-SC or submit an online tip.