Arrests made in connection with Yemassee, Burton deaths; female body identified
A North Carolina investigation into the sale of drugs and firearms led law enforcement to make arrests in connection with the burned and partially dismembered body of a man found in Yemassee last year and the death of a woman found in a shallow grave Wednesday in Burton.
Detectives of the Brunswick County, NC, Sheriff's Office began an investigation Dec. 31 when they received information about the sale of drugs and firearms at a home on High Hill Road in Shallotte, according to a news release from that department.
That investigation led them to stop separate vehicles in Calabash on Jan. 5. In the cars were Charles Thomas Brown, 28, and his mother, Nancy Kennedy, 56, both of 18 Toro Lane in Burton.
Kennedy and Brown were found in possession of firearms, leading detectives to execute a search warrant at the High Hill Drive residence, the Brunswick Sheriff's Office said.
Four firearms were seized, and Charles Brown was charged with possession of a firearm by a felon. He was taken to the Brunswick County Detention Facility and is there in lieu of a $2 million bond.
Kennedy was taken into custody by the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office.
North Carolina investigators say Brown and Kennedy might be involved with the death of a man whose body was found burned inside a car Dec. 18 off of US 17 in Yemassee, and the SC State Law Enforcement Division has brought charges in connection with that death.
The Yemassee Police Department identified the victim Thursday as Titus Singleton of Beaufort. Interviews with the suspects revealed that a partially buried body part recovered off Schein Loop in Burton came from Singleton. The Sheriff's Office did not specify what the body part was.
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division has charged Charles Brown's brother, Olin Brown, 29, also of Toro Lane, with murder in connection to Singleton's death, Beaufort County Sheriff's Office spokesman Capt. Bob Bromage said. SLED has charged Kennedy with accessory to murder.
The joint investigation between both sheriff's offices also led to the discovery Wednesday of a second body -- a woman buried in a shallow grave outside the Toro Lane residence in Burton.
Following an autopsy at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, the victim was identified as Katherine Collier, 25. A Sheriff's Office news release said the autopsy showed the woman, described as Charles Brown's girlfriend, died from two gunshot wounds.
The Beaufort County Sheriff's Office has obtained arrested warrants charging Charles Brown with murder in connection with her death. Olin Brown and Kennedy have been charged with accessory to murder after the fact.
Collier was last seen alive around Christmas time.
Follow Caitlin Turner on Twitter at twitter.com/Cait_E_Turner.
This story was originally published January 7, 2016 at 1:31 PM with the headline "Arrests made in connection with Yemassee, Burton deaths; female body identified."