Two parents in Chester County are facing charges after their 9-year-old son died, and investigators say he had been sick for days before anyone got him help.
The Chester County Sheriff’s Office arrested Katie Hill Hefner and Rick Elliot Adkins on Friday, Oct. 9. Each is charged with two counts of unlawful conduct toward a child.
What happened
Emergency crews were called to the family’s home on Lawndale Circle in Fort Lawn on Sept. 20, where the boy was found unresponsive. He later died.
Investigators say the boy had been sick for at least four days and had become so weak that he could not walk, talk or sit up.
Deputies also reported finding the home in unsanitary conditions.
Officials have not released the boy’s name or an official cause of death.
Second child found
Investigators say they also found a 12-year-old girl living in the home who has developmental and cognitive disabilities. According to officials, she had not been in school since around 2020.
The sheriff’s office has not said where the girl is now.
Neighbors shocked
Neighbors told WBTV they remember seeing emergency crews on the street in September but did not know a child had died until much later. One neighbor who lives across the street said he sometimes saw the children playing in the yard after school, but the family mostly kept to themselves.
DSS response
The South Carolina Department of Social Services said it could not share details about the family because of confidentiality rules. The agency said it does not have the legal power to remove a child from a home on its own, and that only law enforcement or a family court judge can do that.
DSS encourages anyone who suspects child abuse or neglect to call its statewide hotline at 1-888-CARE-4-US, or 911 if a child is in immediate danger.
Hefner and Adkins are presumed innocent unless and until they are proven guilty in court.
We’ll update this story as more information is released.
Sources: Chester County Sheriff’s Office; SC Department of Social Services, as reported by WBTV