Man, 33, arrested on murder charge after Summerville police find body in car

SUMMERVILLE — A 21-year-old Tennessee woman found dead in the back seat of a car at a gas station Sunday had been strangled, authorities said.

Berkeley County Coroner Bill Salsibury said an autopsy today determined the cause of Jasmine Marrone’s death and he has ruled it a homicide.

A 33-year-old man has been arrested on a murder charge in connection with the killing.

James Randall Carpenter, 33, was taken into custody Sunday after a body was found in the back seat of a car at a Summerville gas station.

Carpenter is scheduled to appear for a bond hearing at 7 tonight. He has recently lived in Charleston County, according to court records.

Charleston police officers arrested Carpenter in February 2011 on a charge of third-degree battery and in August 2011 on a felony fraud charge, according to the State Law Enforcement Division. Charleston County deputies also arrested him in July on a charge of failure to appear in court after his release on a felony.

In the most recent incident involving Carpenter, police got a call about 7:30 a.m. that a man at a Shell gas station at 1330 North Main St. appeared to be intoxicated, according to Capt. Jon Rogers of the Summerville Police Department.

The gas station is on a busy thoroughfare between the Azalea Square shopping center and Interstate 26.

Police ran a check and found out that the man was wanted on an outstanding warrant from another state. Rogers declined to say why the man was wanted.

Police also noticed the man had blood on his clothes.

They looked inside the car and found Marrone’s body under a blanket, Rogers said.

The man was initially taken into custody because of the outstanding warrant, Rogers said.

Police also gave no clues how the woman got in the car.

People with information in the killing should call the Summerville police at 843-851-4100.