It’s a familiar story to South Carolina residents. A car with two young children submerged in the water. A mother that claims it was a car accident. This time the mother isn’t Susan Smith, but the similarities are disturbing for many residents.
29 Year old Shaquan Duley called police for help when she supposedly lost control of her car and it veered off the boat ramp and into the Edisto River in Orangeburg County, South Carolina. On Monday divers recovered the bodies of her two sons, aged one and two, from the submerged car. Duley was arrested and charged with leaving the scene of an accident.
But Sherriff Larry Williams didn’t buy the story. He says that Duley walked nearly a mile before she called for help, and showed no evidence of having been in the water at all. The car was in neutral when it went underwater. He felt the story had a “stench of foul play”.
After extensive questioning through the day and night, Duley admitted to suffocating both boys prior to sending the car into the river. This happened by covering their mouths with her hand. Both boys were dead before the car went under the water.
The police will be charging Duley with murder. They believe the father shared little contact with the boys. Duley has a five year old daughter who was not present during the incident.
For a South Carolina community, the story is too memorable.