“Day to day, hour to hour, minute to minute”; Beaufort Co. teen’s mom waits for answers

More than a month ago, Michelle Spencer-Ransom buried her only child after his body was found with multiple gunshot wounds in Bamberg County — she is still waiting for answers about his death.

No one has been arrested for 18-year-old Malik Spencer’s death, which police have called an apparent homicide.

“It is still being actively investigated,” Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office Major Bob Bromage said Monday.

He said there is no new information that can be released.

Spencer-Ransom said getting back to a “norm” is difficult.

“It is day to day, hour to hour, minute to minute,” Spencer-Ransom said about the days without her son. “That is how I am dealing with this tragic event, the death of my son, my only child. There is a hole that will never be filled in my heart. You just wake up and try to do the best you can.”

Spencer went missing on Dec. 18. His body was found in brush by linemen on Jan. 22. It took weeks to positively identify his body.

Family pleaded for information to find Malik for more than a month. Their attention has now turned to asking the public’s help in finding the person who killed the Whale Branch Early College High School senior.

A $4,000 reward is being offered for anyone who provides information that leads to an arrest. The money is held in a nonprofit account by Love House Ministry church— where Spencer was an active member of the youth and music programs.

“Somebody is responsible and somebody knows who did what,” Spencer-Ransom said Monday. “We are definitely still pleading with the public to call if they know anything. They can remain anonymous.”

Anonymous tips can be given by calling Crime Stoppers of the Lowcountry at 843-554-1111.

Spencer-Ransom and Malik’s stepdad, Heyward Ransom, continue to criticize a community mantra of “snitches get stitches”.

“It is my family now,” Spencer-Ransom said. “It will be somebody else’s family tomorrow. People have to step up and help law enforcement. Get these bad people off the streets.”

The death of a teen like Malik, hurts more people than just immediate family, Spencer-Ransom said.

“It is not just me or my husband,” Spencer-Ransom said. “I have so many family members, cousins, aunts and uncles that were close to him, they just adored him. People who commit these crimes, they don’t realize how far it reaches.”

Malik, known for always being responsible, appeared to have a productive life ahead of him. He worked at Wendy’s while going to school and during the summer month’s as a camp counselor. In the months before Malik’s death, he was talking about heading to Florida for welding training after graduation.

“He had so much to live for,” Spencer-Ransom said. “He won’t walk across the stage for graduation, he will never be married, he won’t give me grandchildren. There is so much he was cheated of and he won’t have the opportunity to do. That is not fair for anyone’s family. Evil cuts through lives and people’s hopes and dreams.”

It is important that the community start talking about gun violence happening in the area, Spencer-Ransom said.

“It is about taking our neighborhoods back,” Spencer-Ransom said. “Somebody has to. This is what my family is dealing with but someone has to continue to carry the torch. Someone has to speak up..”