2 charged in deputy's death

WALTERBORO — Two men are charged with murder in the fatal shooting of a Colleton County sheriff's deputy, ending a massive, month-long investigation and bringing a wave of relief to an exhausted law enforcement community.

It was less than a week ago that authorities and the widow of Deputy Dennis Compton pleaded with the community for information. But that all changed Friday.

State Law Enforcement Division agents charged both Travis Javon Harris, 19, of Smoaks, and Jacoby Jermaine Fields, 18, of Walterboro, with murder and first-degree burglary. SLED Chief Reggie Lloyd said he does not anticipate any more arrests in the case.

Harris and Fields will appear at a bond hearing at 9:30 a.m. today at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro.

Warrants accuse both men of shooting the deputy in the stomach with a shotgun Aug. 6 while he was responding to a tripped burglar alarm at a home near Smoaks.

Lloyd, 14th Circuit Solicitor Isaac McDuffie Stone and Colleton County Sheriff George Malone were tight-lipped about what led them to the suspects, declining to give a motive or give details about their arrests.

Warrants say both men made "self-incriminating" statements. Lloyd stopped short of calling the statements confessions.

"Both individuals made statements to law enforcement during the conduct of this investigation as it relates to them," he said. "I don't want to characterize those statements at this point."

Lloyd said the public would have to

draw its own conclusions on whether Compton may have come up on the men as they were burglarizing the house but noted that the two men are charged with burglary in the case.

He declined to say how they recovered a shotgun.

"I won't get into where we found it or how we found it, but we do have what we believe to be the murder weapon," Lloyd said.

Lloyd said a T-shirt found a half-mile from the scene is not considered evidence, and authorities were still assessing whether anyone could potentially qualify for a $25,000 reward for information leading to a conviction.

He also declined to discuss the defendants' criminal records. Fields, who was living in a Walterboro apartment, has misdemeanor convictions ranging from simple assault to unlawful carrying of a weapon.

Harris, who lives about six miles from the crime scene, does not have a prior criminal record as an adult.

While they were short on details, authorities were high on praise for the men and women they say have worked tirelessly on the case for the last month. They also thanked the community for all their help.

Tabatha Compton, Dennis Compton's widow who has received letters of support from the all over the country, including from President Bush, thanked everyone.

"I'm very grateful for everybody's effort and prayers. They have definitely been felt by myself and my family, and these men and women are exhausted," Compton said. "They have spent endless hours away from their families and their loved ones to help bring justice to my family and myself, and I am very grateful for all of it."

Tabatha Compton and Anthony Buchanan, Dennis Compton's cousin, said news of the arrests has brought a sense of peace.

"I don't know if happy was the word. I cried a lot," she said. "I don't know if it was sad tears or joyful tears. All I knew is I felt my husband's presence and that he could rest."

Buchanan said he's sleeping again. The big deputy, who grew up playing cops and robbers with his cousin, was awake at 3 a.m. Aug. 6 and was listening to the scanner when he realized it was Compton who had been shot.

There have been a lot of sleepless nights since.

"I got sleep," Buchanan said Monday. "His mom had tears of joy when I called her and let her know. It was just unreal, it really was."

The family has planned a memorial service for Compton on Sept. 18 in Stafford County, Va.

Stone said the case does qualify for the death penalty, but he has yet to make a decision.

Tabatha Compton declined to comment on whether she wants the state to pursue the death penalty. She said she feels sorry for the suspects after seeing them at a brief court appearance Sunday.

"Their lives are so young, and if something happens, it's going to be over for them, and they didn't have a chance," she said.

On Aug. 6, the homeowner's son found Compton bleeding in the front yard of 699 Sunflower Drive after receiving a call from the alarm company that the house's alarm had been tripped.

A next door neighbor said he heard one shot fired, and then what sounded like three more shots from a different gun. Authorities decline to say whether Compton fired his weapon.

Lloyd thanked more than two dozen state, local and federal agencies for their help in the case, which led to more than 100 unrelated charges.

He said that during the course of the investigation authorities made more than 23 drug arrests; issued more than 102 citations ranging from disorderly conduct to speeding; made more than 11 probation-related arrests; and solved numerous, unrelated burglaries through 18 arrests.