Vacant home near homicide scene burns

A vacant house near the scene of a recent homicide in the Stratton Capers neighborhood went up in flames early Saturday after someone set fire to it — twice.

Firefighters first responded to the one-story house at 38 Stratton Drive at 5:40 a.m. to find a bedroom fire, Ashley River Fire Chief Scott Inabinet said.

"We never did find a direct cause for the fire, but we deemed it suspicious," Inabinet said.

Firefighters stayed at the scene until about 8 a.m. The second call came at 11:27 a.m., and this time, they found the house engulfed in flames.

"The fire definitely had some human assistance to start it," Inabinet said. "It's readily apparent that this fire was set."

Dorchester County sheriff's deputies had responded to the street in front of the house around 5:30 a.m. Aug. 29 to find 24-year-old Herman Ward lying in the roadway with a gunshot wound to the head. Ward was airlifted to Medical University Hospital, where he died six days later.

Deputies later arrested Xavier Terrel Walker, 23, of Starlett Road in North Charleston. They were still searching for Roger Dewayne Rutledge, 28, of Stratton Drive. Both are facing murder charges.

Sheriff's Lt. John Garrison said there was nothing definite to connect the slaying and the fire.

Authorities said the shooting was similar to a 2006 homicide that remains unsolved.

In that shooting, 18-year-old Andre Tyrone Williams was killed in front of 38 Stratton Drive.

Reach Noah Haglund at 937-5550 or nhaglund@post andcourier.com.