Sheriff Charles Lemon ‘cleaning house’ upon return to office Thursday

EDITORS NOTE: A previous version of this story included details provided by Chief Deputy Larry Turner that Bennettsville City Councilwoman Wanda Weaver had been hired by Sheriff Charles Lemon upon his return to the office on August 22, 2024. Weaver said she had not been hired, but Lemon offered her a “position.” Weaver would not discuss the offer any further.

MARLBORO COUNTY, S.C. ( QUEEN CITY NEWS ) — It was 982 days ago that the S.C. Law Enforcement Division showed up at the Marlboro County sheriff’s office with two indictments in hand with Sheriff Charles Lemon’s name on them.

Lemon was standing by on a murder scene a few blocks away from the sheriff’s office when he found out he’d been indicted that morning of Dec. 14, 2021. The governor also suspended Lemon from office right after the indictments.

Instead of arresting Lemon, as it typically goes when someone is charged with a crime, QCN watched as SLED agents helped the indicted sheriff pack up his belongings from his office and patrol truck. A SLED agent even helped Lemon load boxes into the truck, then drove him home.

The suspended sheriff wasn’t arrested until a week later, following a bond hearing in Florence.

A law enforcement source told QCN’s Jody Barr on Thursday morning that Lemon returned to the office and looked to be ‘cleaning house.’ The source saw Chief Deputy Larry Turner carrying a box out of the sheriff’s office, as one would when they’re no longer working somewhere. We don’t know whether Turner left on his own or Lemon fired him.

Turner called Barr from his personal cellphone Thursday morning and confirmed Lemon fired him on the spot with no explanation or any notice in writing. “He started it out, ‘This ain’t personal,'” Turner said before Lemon told him his “Services are no longer needed.”

Turner also confirmed he was carrying a box of his personal belongings to his personal car as our source reported.

Lemon replaced Turner with Ricky Covington, a retired S.C. Department of Natural Resources office, as his chief deputy on Thursday, Turner told QCN. Covington was also with Lemon during the federal trial.

Bobby Roberts, another former SCDNR officer was brought in with Lemon’s return, Turner said.

Turner said interim Sheriff Larry McNeil rounded his personal belongings up Wednesday night and left office before Lemon came on Thursday. Turner turned over McNeil’s county-owned property Thursday morning to the sheriff’s office.

Turner said Lemon also fired investigator Jackie “Cotton” Heffner and secretary Bobby Sue Latham. Latham worked under Lemon and former Sheriff Fred Knight, and continued under McNeil’s administration, but was fired Thursday morning.

Latham was replaced by Wanda Weaver, a sitting Bennettsville city councilwoman, according to Turner. Weaver attended every day of Lemon’s federal trial in Florence and was there when the verdict was read on August 19. Weaver responded to a message Barr sent her asking about her employment as Latham’s replacement.

“I’ve been offered a position,” Weaver replied. “Taking it?” Barr asked but Weaver did not respond. Weaver later confirmed in a phone call with QCN that she had not taken a job at the sheriff’s office, but Lemon offered her a job. Weaver would not say what “position” she was offered, “It’s a position, that’s all I want to say,” Weaver told QCN.

Weaver also confirmed she was inside the sheriff’s office with Lemon on Thursday morning.

Weaver’s late husband, Steve Weaver, worked under Lemon as a chief deputy before his death in March 2023.

Turner confirmed four other MCSO deputies resigned between Wednesday and Thursday morning before Lemon walked through the sheriff’s office doors.

Calls to Turner’s phone were unanswered Thursday as each call went straight to voicemail. Charles Lemon also has not responded to any messages sent to him by QCN seeking comment and clarifications for this report.

Just three days ago, following Lemon’s acquittal, Lemon’s attorney Doug Jennings brushed off a question from Queen City News Chief Investigator Jody Barr about Lemon returning to office and taking over again and whether he had anything to say to the people involved in telling their versions of the stories that led to our ‘Lost Trust’ investigation.

“This is a day to be thankful for a result. I would just add that some of those questions might hint at some sort of vendetta or something of that nature. That’s just not in Charles Lemon’s heart, that’s not the kind of man he is. It’s not who he is and just like he felt like the video that was so widely distributed, it was not reflective of his true character,” Jennings said outside the courthouse on August 19, 2024.

WATCH: DOUG JENNINGS ADDRESS QUESTION OF LEMON’S RETURN:

On Wednesday, S.C. Governor Henry McMaster rescinded Lemon’s suspension from office following a jury verdict on Monday acquitting the suspended sheriff of a civil rights violation stemming from a jailhouse assault on an inmate in May 2020. Lemon and former Deputy Andrew Cook were both indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice in January 2024 connected to the jailhouse assault.

Lemon woke up Thursday morning and went back to work, taking over the sheriff’s office. Lemon only has 131 days left in his unexpired term. His name will not appear on the November ballot to be re-elected.

WATCH: MORGAN MARTIN ON SHERIFF CHARLES LEMON’S RETURN TO POWER

Cook pleaded guilty to the federal charge in January. The video recording of the assault showed Lemon ordering Cook to fire his Taser at Jarrel Johnson’s head as Johnson stood handcuffed in the doorway of a holding cell. Lemon shouted at Johnson several times and when the jailer removed the cuffs, Johnson turned and lunged at Lemon.

That move set off a series of Taser shots from Cook with Lemon ordering “Pop it to him,” multiple times throughout the video. Federal prosecutors argued that the first two Taser strikes were justified, but the final four, which included Johnson attempting to get into the jail cell as Cook ordered, were unlawful uses of force.

Prosecutors argued that Lemon had “lost control” and was angry at Johnson for interfering with the sheriff’s personal church schedule that morning and for assaulting a friend of the sheriff’s. Johnson was arrested that Sunday morning after beating his father, Ronnie Johnson, with a baseball bat and his fists causing serious injuries to the elder Johnson.

Lemon testified that he was long-time friends with the elder Johnson and associated with him through their church networks. Assistant U.S. Attorney Everett McMillian told the jury that Lemon was “irritated and angry,” that morning when he “Let a friendship, personal schedule, and anger at Jarrel Johnson” take over.

Lemon’s defense team argued to the jury that Johnson was “a violent criminal” who refused to listen to commands that morning in the jail and Lemon and Cook had no other option to subdue Johnson than using their Taser on him.

Cook and two jailers who were involved in the incident that morning each testified that Johnson wasn’t posing any sort of threat inside the jail until Lemon showed up and started yelling at the handcuffed man.

Prosecutors apparently didn’t convince jurors that Lemon – beyond a reasonable doubt – violated Johnson’s civil rights. It took the jury 70 minutes, including the time it took the jury to elect a foreperson, to find Lemon not guilty on August 19, 2024.

Lemon will not appear on the November ballot as a sheriff’s office candidate, but the county elections office said Lemon could run as a write-in. The November election is set for Nov. 5, 2024. The sheriff now has 75 days to win another four-year term.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.