Greenville-Pickens homicides

The Pickens County Sheriff’s Office has continued to investigate the tragic deaths of three people found inside a black colored Jeep SUV that was parked at the Greenville Pickens Speedway near Hwy 124 and Calhoun Memorial Hwy. Pickens Coroner Kelley says the deceased are Jessica Edens, 36; five-year old Harper Edens, and nine-year old Hayden King, all of Creekside Way, Easley.   Late Thursday afternoon, a description of the vehicle had been provided to the Sheriff’s Office from Greenville authorities shortly after officers from the Greenville City Police Department located a deceased female who had been shot at her vehicle in a downtown parking garage. A witness provided the description of the suspect vehicle to Greenville Police to include a license plate number that provided additional leads linking back to Pickens County. As law enforcement agencies within Pickens County searched various locations for the vehicle, the Sheriff’s Office received information from a passing motorist that a dark colored SUV matching the description was backed up to a chain-link fence at the Greenville Pickens Speedway. Pickens County Sheriff’s deputies arrived on the scene just before 7:00pm and as they approached the SUV they observed an adult female and two small children inside the vehicle that were unresponsive. The vehicle was running and was locked thus requiring the deputies to break the driver’s side window to gain access to the interior. All three occupants were determined to be deceased at the scene with wounds that were visually consistent with gunshots. A .40 caliber, semi-automatic handgun was recovered from the interior of the vehicle. As the investigation continued throughout most of the night, it was determined that the adult female is the mother of the two deceased children who have different biological fathers. The mother was separated from her husband who is the father of one of the two children. Forensic detectives from the Sheriff’s Office were in attendance at the autopsies conducted on the three Pickens County victims earlier today. Evidence and observations from those examinations have confirmed that all three victims were shot one time near the neck/head area. The Sheriff’s Office is still collecting information and conducting interviews this afternoon. The investigation will remain open and active until further forensic testing can be completed and all interviews have been conducted. The investigation thus far supports the theory that the motive and connection between the two incidents stems from the broken marriage and the subsequent domestic challenges associated with that break up. The Greenville victim is not a relative to the three victims found in Pickens County.