New details revealed in court on Southside Boulevard murder in Beaufort
New details in a preliminary hearing Friday reveal that the Beaufort man killed in April on Southside Boulevard was shot in his friend’s car after a house party in Burton, police say.
The Beaufort Police Department charged three people in the death of 26-year-old Joshua Reed Paige, who was found outside his uncle’s home on Southside Boulevard on April 11, Josh Dowling, an investigator with the Beaufort Police Department, said in the preliminary hearing, held virtually Friday.
Paul Washington Jr., 34, of Burton was charged with murder on Aug. 30 after police say he shot Paige outside the home. Two other men, Baron Brown-Lights, 28, of Burton, and Isaac Smalls, 33, of Lady’s Island, were charged with conspiracy to commit murder after police say they lured Paige to the home.
An interview with Paige’s girlfriend indicated that an argument broke out between Washington and Paige earlier that night at a house party, Dowling said.
“It was over a prior relationship with a female they had a relationship with several years back,” Dowling said. “The fight did not become physical, it was solely verbal, based on the girlfriend.”
Paige had a firearm “on his person” and “prior to fighting Paul Washington the victim had taken his firearm out,” Dowling said. After the argument, Paige could not find his firearm, according to Dowling.
Paige was the “baby of the family,” an extrovert with a contagious laugh, his sister, Sherey Terry, told The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette several months after his death. Washington, Brown-Lights and Smalls were his friends, and Paige “looked out for them,” she said.
What happened?
Officers from the Beaufort Police Department responded to the home on Southside Boulevard around 6 a.m., Dowling said. Approximately eight 9-mm cartridges were found outside the home, Dowling said. Paige had gone there to buy Molly, a psychoactive drug also known as ecstasy, from Brown-Lights, Dowling said.
“Josh Paige got into the driver’s side of vehicle interacting with the passenger,” Dowling said. “While interacting with [the] passenger, Brown-Lights, an individual emerged from the back of the property by a trail back there, approached driver’s side of the vehicle and subsequently opened fire on the victim.”
Blood spatters were found on the driver’s side interior of Smalls’ vehicle, Dowling said, and it was “quite evident something violent had occurred.”
Paige ran toward the front of the property, Dowling said, and he and the shooter ran past his girlfriend’s car.
Due to discrepancies in the story after the shooting, police obtained cellphone tracking information for Brown-Lights and Smalls’ cellphones.
They showed that Smalls was at a “pin-drop right over the residence of Paul Washington” before the murder and then stopped for five minutes on a road that has a “trail that leads to the residence where Josh Paige was killed,” Dowling said.
When police tracked Washington’s cellphone, they found it pinged a Port Royal tower “facing the incident location,” Dowling said.
Police were able to charge Brown-Lights and Smalls with conspiracy to commit murder, Dowling said, and “gained cooperation” after the arrests.
“Paul Washington got out of the vehicle, put a hoodie on, and subsequently walked into the wood-lined area traveling eastbound,” Dowling said.
After the shooting, Dowling said, Smalls and Brown-Lights told police that Washington was “very upset” and “getting sick.” They told police that Washington was hyperventilating and said, “I just killed him.”
On Aug. 1, Dowling said, police responded to a disturbance and “had contact” with Paul Washington who allegedly had in his possession a nine-millimeter Beretta firearm.
“It had been reported to us that that particular firearm with that particular serial number was the firearm that was stolen from Josh Paige on the night that the disturbance had taken place between Paul Washington and the victim,” Dowling said. “That was the gun that he had in his possession that had been unaccounted for.”
Lab results have not “conclusively determined” whether this was the gun used in the shooting and none of the shell casings have been matched to a particular weapon, Dowling said. DNA and fingerprint evidence collected revealed “nothing related to the defendant” or anyone else, Dowling said.
Washington’s public defender, Courtney Gibbes, did not respond to a request for comment Friday.
Smalls was released on bond on Aug. 25. As of Sunday morning, both Brown-Lights and Washington remained in custody at the Beaufort County Detention Center.
BEHIND THE STORY
MOREWhy we did this story:
The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette newspapers are making an effort to update stories we’ve published where criminal charges were filed. Criminal charges mean law enforcement had probable cause to arrest someone, but a court decides on a person’s guilt and conviction. If our newspaper has written about a crime where charges were brought, we want to use public records to show what happened in that case. If you think a crime story featuring you or someone you know needs updating, email Sofia Sanchez at ssanchez@islandpacket.com or newsroom@islandpacket.com.
This story was originally published October 24, 2021 at 11:55 AM.
