The Wild Heart Murder

Before 2008, the building that now houses Wild Heart Brewing functioned as a feed and seed called Gardener Fertilizer and Supply. On September 29th at 8:30PM the Hartsville police were called and told that the body of the store's owner, Keith Hancock, was found. Upon arrival, the officers determined that the owner's cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head. It was immediately apparent that the reason for the killing was robbery.

After two weeks of investigation, the murderer was identified as Eddie Anthony Huggins of Darlington, South Carolina. Upon investigation, Hartsville police stated that the murder weapon was an axe. it was shown that after the crime Huggins fled North with the help of his family. On the 14th of October 2008, Huggins was arrested while stepping off a bus in Pittsburgh with two of his family members for the murder of Keith Hancock. On December 22, 2010, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison with parole.

During the time of the murder and investigation, GSSM instated an 8:00 PM weekday and an 11:00 PM campus curfew for its students. This rule stands to this day.

For years, the land that Gardener Fertilizer and Supply occupied was untouched. However on the 21st of April 2021 Casey Hancock, Keith Hancock's son, opened a business now named Wild Heart Brewing in honor of his late father. That same year, Casey Hancock was elected mayor of Hartsville.

Notes

1. WMBF NEWS, "Person of interest identified in Hartsville business murder" 30 September 2008.

2. SC NOW, "Huggins in custody at Darlington County Detention Center; more relatives arrested" 14 October 2008.

3. ABC-15 NEWS, "Hartsville men breathe life into building that was once the scene of a tragedy" 20 April 2021.