31-year-old Brittany Simpson was charged on Thursday with the murder of her 66-year-old father Robert Simpson on Tuesday, and was denied bond. She was also charged with possession of a firearm while committing a violent crime. Her parents had given her 24 hours to leave their home when it happened.
Eviction threat
According to a report by The Post and Courier, Simpson had been living in her parents’ home rent-free, although she did help pay utility costs up until around March, when her mother allegedly threatened to evict her.
Brittany implicated an intruder in the shooting death of her father.
On the day of the shooting, Simpson’s younger sister made a 911 call at around 6 a.m. She told police that she heard a gunshot and that her father was screaming, adding that there was blood everywhere and that her father had been shot in the chest. Brittany’s voice could reportedly be heard in the background, saying that someone had broken into the home. When police arrived on the scene, Brittany told officials that someone had come in through the back door.
Robert Simpson, 66, was reportedly still alive when officers entered the home. According to a statement by the Mount Pleasant police, one of the officers had to kick in the door to the master bedroom to help him. Firefighters arrived on the scene to provide medical care, but Simpson died at the scene.
He was reportedly employed in the film industry.
66-year-old film industry worker Robert Simpson https://t.co/kiK4dZTbGV
— Wil St John 🇺🇸 (@wilstjohn) May 11, 2017
Police discover clothing belonging to the South Carolina woman and the gun
It was while Mount Pleasant police were investigating the crime that they discovered a book bag containing some of Brittany's clothing and a Smith and Wesson handgun submerged in a nearby creek.
The court records noted that the handgun’s serial number matched the number on a handgun box found in one of the bedrooms in the Simpson home. The clothing matched those worn by Brittany that morning, as seen on a neighbor's security video.
Initially, Simpson told the police that she didn’t know of anyone who might want to hurt her father.
However, it turned out that she had been given 24 hours to leave the home by that particular day. Simpson later confessed to police that she was the one that killed her father.
Shooting her father was the South Carolina woman's first crime
People contacted David Aylor, Brittany’s attorney, for comment, but he would not speak about the eviction notices or whether Brittany has been speaking with her family. He did say that this was the suspect’s “first run-in with the law.”
Aylor did confirm that Brittany is currently not working and is on disability. However, he said she was still an active person and her disability wasn’t hampering her. She reportedly attended the University of Miami as well as the College of Charleston, and Aylor said she was well liked in both communities. Aylor added that it's a tragic situation for the family, and Brittany is taking things day by day.