PC Sheriff’s Office continues to investigate Fatal Shooting

The Pickens County Sheriff’s Office continues to investigate the deadly shooting that occurred on Sunny Lane in Pickens during the evening hours on Saturday, April 28, 2018. Deputies found 39-year-old Robin Janette Smith deceased in the driveway of 110 Sunny Lane with what appeared to be multiple gunshot wounds. The Pickens County Sheriff’s Office reports that 58-year-old Paul Scott Bennett of 110 Sunny Lane is still detained in the Pickens County Detention Center after a Pickens County Magistrate denied bond on the charges of murder and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime. The investigation is still on-going and detectives thus far have determined that the incident stemmed from a verbal confrontation that started earlier Saturday afternoon. Bennett called authorities at approximately 4:30pm on Saturday and stated that he had been personally shot at by trespassers on his property. Deputies arrived on the scene to investigate; however, Bennett recanted his story and stated that no one had been on his property and that he had heard gunshots in the distance by an unknown party. Detectives do not believe that any other person fired any shots during the fatal encounter and the only weapon recovered at the scene was a .9mm handgun that detectives have reason to believe was brought to the encounter by Bennett.