3 charged with murder in shooting

By TARA JENNINGSLedger Staff Writertara@gaffneyledger.com

Three suspects in a fatal shooting are behind bars awaiting bond hearings.

Dwayne Roger Moore, 36, of Grover and formerly of Blacksburg, was pronounced dead at 3:42 a.m. after being airlifted to Spartanburg Regional Medical Center with a gunshot wound to the head.

A second person, Michael Dale Bowen, of Shelby, N.C., was shot in the right arm and left hand during the 1:30 a.m. incident Friday. Bowen was admitted to Upstate Carolina Medical Center.

Police have arrested 18-year-old Lindin Merrill Bailey, of 421 Sarratt Ave.; 18-year-old Joseph Ernest Smith, of 430 Sarratt St.; and 17year-old James Robert Peterson of 116-A Kraft St., all of Gaffney. They are each charged with murder and assault and battery with intent to kill. Peterson also faces a charge of use of a vehicle without owner’s consent.

All three teens remain at the Cherokee County Detention Center as of Sunday night.

Moore and Bowen were in a vehicle on Vaughn Road, near Luther Vaughan Elementary School, when a second vehicle carrying the three suspects pulled beside them and shots were fired, according to the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff Bill Blanton said detectives believe it was an attempted drug deal after speaking with witnesses.

The shooting victims left the area and drove to Gaffney Inn where they called 9-1-1.

The suspect’s vehicle also left the scene. A sheriff’s deputy stopped the vehicle on Bonner Lake Road but all three suspects fled on foot. Bailey was apprehended at the car, but the two other suspects escaped and were apprehended later Friday, police said.