Body found near exit on I-95 and a man is in custody, SC sheriff says
A man was arrested Sunday, hours after a body was found near a section of Interstate 95 in South Carolina, according to the Clarendon County Sheriff’s Office.
Willie Ray Nelson Jr., a 57-year-old Buffalo Junction resident, was arrested for outstanding warrants that were unrelated to the deadly Sunday morning shooting, the sheriff’s office said in a news release. As of Sunday afternoon, Nelson was being held at the Clarendon County Detention Center, awaiting charges connected to the shooting death Manning resident George Antwan Ragin Jr., according to the release.
At about 2:40 a.m. Sunday, deputies responded to reports of a shooting at 5973 U.S. 301/Alex Harvin Highway near the Rambay area of Clarendon County, the sheriff’s office said. That’s close to Exit 115 on I-95.
Deputies found the dead body of a man, later identified as Ragin, according to the release. Ragin had been shot in the upper body, the sheriff’s office said.
Information about how Nelson was identified as the shooter was not available, but he was taken into custody without incident at a Williamsburg County home, according to the release. The Williamsburg County Sheriff’s Office assisted in Nelson’s arrest.
Although Nelson has been taken into custody, the sheriff’s office is continuing to investigate the deadly shooting.
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call the Clarendon County Sheriff’s Office at 803-435-4414, or the sheriff’s office tip line at 803-433-8477.
In the case of an emergency, always call 911.
This is not the first time that Nelson has been arrested in Clarendon County.
In October 2018, Nelson pleaded guilty to weapons and drug charges from an arrest the previous year, Clarendon County court records show.
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This story was originally published May 4, 2026 at 8:23 AM with the headline "Body found near exit on I-95 and a man is in custody, SC sheriff says."
