Man fatally shot; woman facing murder charge

WANDA BROWN The silence of a peaceful neighborhood on Sharon Drive in southern Cherokee County — a silence only intermittently broken by chirping birds and some barking hounds in the distance — was shattered Sunday morning by gunfire.

As investigators converged on the scene, a 53-year-old Spartanburg man was found dead at the home and a woman subsequently was booked into the Cherokee County Detention Center.

Wanda Denise Brown, 35, was booked on a murder charge, according to the records office at the county lockup. After notification of family members, Cherokee County Coroner Dennis Fowler identified the victim late Sunday as Richard Bryant of 102 Safeway Ave. in Spartanburg.

The Cherokee County Sheriff's Office was investigating the incident and released few details about what happened between the two people on Sunday.

Fowler said witnesses said Bryant and a woman, whom Fowler did not identify by name, had been engaged in a physical altercation minutes before the shooting occurred. Bryant sustained a single gunshot wound to the chest and was pronounced dead at the scene.

An autopsy will be performed to assist in the investigation, Fowler said.

The shooting occurred at about 10:15 a.m. and investigators still were at the scene as of Sunday afternoon.

In addition to two Sheriff's Office patrol vehicles, the gravel driveway at 122 Sharon Drive was filled with a Crime Scene Investigations van, two unmarked vehicles belonging to Sheriff's Office personnel and the Coroner's Office van — making the site a head-turner for the very few motorists on the normally serene country road.

"What happened?" several motorists wanted to know as they slowed to a crawl. One shook his head in disbelief that a shooting occurred.

Firefighters at nearby Asbury Rehobeth Volunteer Fire Department were prepared to set up a landing zone for a medical helicopter, but their efforts were called off once it was determined a helicopter wouldn't be needed.