SLED: Man appears uninvolved in shooting

WALTERBORO — A man named as a "person of interest" in last month's slaying of a Colleton County sheriff's deputy does not appear to have any involvement in the case, a SLED investigator said Thursday.

State Law Enforcement Division Capt. Roger Heaton said Joshua Lewis Petty, 31, was questioned hours after Dennis Compton was killed on Aug. 6 but was then turned over to the Cottageville Police Department to face outstanding warrants.

"At this particular time, he does not appear to be a person involved in this investigation,"

Heaton said.

Authorities said they just wanted to question Petty the night of Aug. 6, but he ran from them during a traffic stop on U.S. Highway 17A, setting off a massive manhunt in the Indian Springs subdivision. He was quickly taken into custody and questioned.

Records show Petty was then transported to the Colleton County Detention Center on unrelated charges of simple possession of marijuana, failure to stop for blue lights and driving under suspension for the third time or more. All three charges were from July 14.

Petty was released from the detention center on Aug. 14 after posting bond.

Heaton said Petty is just one of a number of people who have been arrested on unrelated charges during the investigation, as investigators have come across several people with outstanding warrants.

No one has been arrested in connection with Compton's shooting.

Compton was shot in front of 699 Sunflower Drive about 3 a.m. while responding to a burglar alarm. No one was home at the time, but the homeowner's son arrived about 20 minutes after the shooting and called for help on the deputy's radio, authorities said.

A next-door neighbor said he heard multiple shots from what sounded like two different guns but that he never heard a vehicle.

A $25,000 reward has been offered to anyone with information that leads to a conviction in the case.

Heaton said they have exhausted more than 300 leads, collected 190 pieces of evidence and amassed more than 5,000 man hours looking for the person or persons responsible.

The agency also is asking anyone with information about a gray, medium-size T-shirt found about a half-mile from the scene to contact investigators. Heaton said they don't know whether it's evidence or not.

The shirt says, together in black and white letters, "It's nice to Meet you. You realLY seem like an interestING person." The white letters spell out, "I'M LYING."