Columbia rapper pleads guilty to sex trafficking
A Columbia rapper pleaded guilty to sex trafficking charges Wednesday for operating a multi-state prostitution ring, The State reported.
George McLeod III, who goes by “Pimp Stick Quezzy,” faces up to 12 years in prison and could pay up to $250,000 when he is sentenced for interstate transportation for the purpose of prostitution, according to a U.S. Attorney’s Office press release reported by The State.
More than a dozen prostitutes employed by McLeod worked at strip clubs around the Southeast since at least April 2010, according to The State. The women were forced to call McLeod “Daddy,” encouraged to tattoo “Quezzy” on their bodies and give all their earnings to McLeod, The State reported.
— Sarah Ellis, Assistant News Editor
Suspected bank robber arrested waiting for cab
Waiting for his getaway ride prevented a man suspected of robbing a bank from, well, getting away.
Timothy Osbourne, 50, was arrested Thursday morning while waiting for a taxi a few blocks away from the Palmetto Citizens Federal Credit Union he is suspected of robbing in West Columbia, The State reported.
Police say Osbourne brandished a large knife and demanded money from the bank’s tellers around 9 a.m., according to The State. He made off with an undetermined amount of money before an officer found him waiting for a taxi inside Congaree State Bank on the same road, the stolen cash stuffed beneath his shirt, The State reported.
He is charged with armed robbery and being held at the Lexington County Detention Center.
— Sarah Ellis, Assistant News Editor
4 kids die in Hartsville mobile home fire
Four children died of smoke inhalation as the result of a mobile home fire in Hartsville Wednesday, The Associated Press reported.
Ten-month-old twin sisters Myasia and Kynasia Hawkins and their brothers, 2-year-old Camaron Mason and 4-year-old Delonta Dixon were killed, according to AP. Their bodies were found inside the charred single-wide home after it took firefighters less than 10 minutes to extinguish the blaze.
Authorities say they are not sure what caused the fire or whether the children’s mother was inside the home when the fire started, AP reported.
“Our hearts are heavy for these four young children. God have mercy on their souls. We did everything possible to save them,” Hartsville Mayor Mel Pennington said in a statement, according to AP.
— Sarah Ellis, Assistant News Editor