Suspect in murder of Greenwood County eight-year-old may soon walk free

GREENWOOD COUNTY, SC (WIS) - Murder charges have been dropped, 19 years after a Greenwood County girl disappeared. The prime suspect is one step closer to getting out of jail, but the victim's family is no closer to closure.

Fifty-five-year-old Charles Wade Hampton is a man authorities once believed abducted, murdered and raped eight-year-old Kia Logan. He may soon be free to walk from jail.

Solicitor Jerry Peace explains, "He'll get credit for time served and good behavior. So, so he'll be back on the street. He'll be back on the street. Scary."

In jail on obstruction of justice charges, Solicitor Jerry Peace says he wouldn't be surprised if Hampton's out within five to six months.

But it wasn't long ago when authorities thought Hampton may never see the light of day.

Charges streamed from the discovery of Kia Logan's skull in a wooded area of Newberry County. Authorities say Hampton initially confessed to the crime, but later recanted.

Hampton has been in jail since 2002. Now, Peace has dropped the charges. "Maybe he did it, maybe he didn't do it. But I can't prove it."

Hampton's attorney, Charles Grose said by phone that he was "grateful to the solicitors office for thoroughly reviewing the case and coming to the conclusion that it did."

Hampton's been in trouble before, serving five years for drilling a hole into a women's restroom at a Georgia rest stop to watch.

Now, Kia Logan's family is left to watch and see what happens next. Nineteen years after their little girl's death, Newberry County Sheriff Lee Foster says they're back to square one. "I can't think of anything worse than losing a child to an act of violence, then on top of that losing a child which you really don't know what happened."

Reported by Kara Gormley

Posted by Chantelle Janelle