A Midlands man who told police officers he was stabbed by his 84-year-old aunt is the one jailed on multiple charges in connection with the violent incident, the Kershaw County Sheriff’s Office said.
Kirim Deshown Gaskins, a 27-year-old Camden resident, was charged with assault and battery, as well as kidnapping, the sheriff’s office said in a news release Wednesday evening.
Although there was an initial manhunt for his elderly relative, she was not charged with any crime, according to the sheriff’s office.
The attack took place on June 19 at around 5:30 am 2200 block of Baron Dekalb Road, the release said. That’s in the Camden area of Kershaw County, between US 601 and Lake Wateree.
Gaskins told officers he was stabbed by the woman, who he said has dementia, and that she walked away from the scene, the sheriff’s office said.
While Gaskins was taken by ambulance to an area hospital, a search was launched for the 84-year-old, the news release said. The search included officers, police dogs, a drone and a South Carolina Law Enforcement Division helicopter was called in to assist, the sheriff’s office said.
When law enforcement found the woman, “she told a completely different story,” the sheriff’s office said. The woman said Gaskins had attacked her and she had to defend herself with a knife, according to the release.
She was injured and also taken to another area hospital, where she was treated and released June 20, the sheriff’s office said.
Gaskins was released from the hospital Wednesday and arrested by Columbia Police Department officers, who took him to the Kershaw County Detention Center, according to the release.
Bond was set at $50,000 on the combined charges, but Gaskins remains behind bars, jail records show.
“Incidents do not always occur in the manner in which they were originally reported to us,” Kershaw County Sheriff Lee Boan said in the news release. “This incident is a good example. I am proud of our KCSO investigators for following the facts and completing a thorough investigation to ensure justice is properly served.”
