CHEROKEE COUNTY, S.C. (WSPA) – Cherokee County deputies have charged a man with the murder of a woman shot on Friday.
Michael Dean Goode Jr. was detained without incident in Spartanburg County around 8 p.m. Friday. Goode was taken to the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office for questioning, where the Sheriff says he confessed to killing his girlfriend.
Deputies say Goode told them that he had thrown out the weapon used during the shooting. The Sheriff’s Office says a K-9 was able to find the weapon under leaves in woods around 20 feet off of the road.
Cherokee County Coroner Dennis Fowler identified the victim as 34-year-old Mildred Susanne Motes.
Investigators say Motes was found shot to death on Massey Drive shortly before 1:00pm Friday.
“It was unexpected,” said Richard Massey, a resident of Massey Drive.
Massey says around noon, he got a phone call from his wife to check on his neighbor who lives down the road from him.
“She was a nervous wreck. She was crying, upset and she didn’t know what to do,” he said.
Massey says he wasn’t expecting to hear what she was about to say next.
“She was telling me she found [a woman] at noon and she was sure that woman was dead,” Massey told 7News.
Cherokee County investigators say EMS was called to the home on Massey Drive for a woman needing medical attention. When EMS arrived, detectives say first responders found the woman had been shot to death.
“It’s awful,” Massey said.
EMS immediately notified investigators, who were called to the area.
Deputies believe Goode knew the victim.
Massey says his community used to be safe, but after the deadly shooting, he worries about his family.
“A lot of drug dealings going on over there and drug use,” he said. “It’s corrupting the neighborhood. It seems like violence is starting to take over a little more and more than it used to.”
Goode has been charged with murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime.
Goode is being held in the Cherokee County Detention Center awaiting a bond hearing.
