By Patrick Phillips, Marissa Thompson and Melissa Rademaker
Published: Jun. 7, 2024 at 10:52 AM EDT|Updated: 9 hours ago
BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C. (WCSC) - For the first time since being charged earlier this year with the killing of their 5-year-old son in 1989, the parents of Justin Turner are sharing their story now that a judge ordered those charges dropped Friday.
Victor Turner, the boy’s father, and Megan Turner, the boy’s stepmother, were emotional Friday talking about the toll the accusations have taken on them. The child’s body was found in a camper on the Turner’s property 35 years ago. The couple was charged with the boy’s murder back in January of this year, based on evidence analysis performed by a cold case unit in 2021 in which new technologies were used that investigators claimed connected the couple to the crime.
Victor Turner said he thinks they will never know what happened to his son.
“It’s been hard, and I’m glad it’s over with, as far as that goes, but I’m still sad,” he said Friday.
Megan Turner said at least now they can properly grieve, but, more importantly, move on.
“We couldn’t say anything, the investigation when it first started, everything went so wrong,” she said. “We couldn’t ever say anything. We couldn’t say anything, because if we said anything they tried to turn it against us and everybody is always asking, ‘Why didn’t you talk? Why didn’t you talk?’ We were instructed not to ever talk, not to say anything because we were under suspicion.”
The Turners say the accusations against them have weighed heavily on them for the past three decades.
“I changed my name trying to get out from under the suspicion. I still hate to go anywhere and somebody go, ‘What’s your name?’ I hate to answer my name. I mean it’s just been a living hell,” Megan Turner said.
“But you turn around and you know these people for 30 years, but yet they don’t know you. They turn around and they distance you when something like this happens,” Victor Turner says.
The couple says their next steps are to take a deep breath and go home. They say after decades of scrutiny they are looking forward to moving on.
“I’m glad that I can hold my head up a little bit,” Victor Turner says.
Back in March, the couple’s attorney argued that the charges should be dismissed, dropping a bombshell finding that a serial killer, Richard Marc Evonitz, who worked as a Navy shipman, was in the Charleston area the day the boy went missing.
But Judge Roger M. Young Sr. ordered a dismissal of the charges not because of the serial killer theory. Instead, the judge said law enforcement did not present any new evidence during the arrest earlier this year, but only new conclusions from old evidence. Since so many witnesses and pieces of evidence have been lost to time, the charges and a trial would be inherently unfair, he said.
Court documents state Young concluded the delay in filing charges, especially against Victor Turner, caused investigators to be prejudiced toward both Victor and Megan Turner, which would deny them their rights to a fair trial.
“The Court... finds that the prejudice to the Defendants far outweighs any reasons for the delay — reasons the State of South Carolina has failed to identify in this case,” the filing for dismissal states.
Further, the dismissal prevents Victor and Megan Turner from ever being charged in this case again.
Turner family, sheriff and prosecutors react to judge’s order to dismiss charges
The Ninth Circuit Solicitor’s Office released a statement from members of the Turner family Friday afternoon after the ruling was revealed:
Ninth Circuit Solicitor’s spokesperson Heather Speizman said the family has asked for privacy during this time.
Ninth Circuit Court Solicitor Scarlett Wilson also released a statement on the court’s decision.
Our hearts are with those who loved and cared for sweet Justin Turner. Your devotion to him is inspiring to everyone. Without question, Justin knew your love for him.
Berkeley County is fortunate to have a Sheriff who is as committed to seeking justice as Sheriff Lewis and his team. From the moment he was sworn in, Sheriff Lewis has been unwavering in his efforts to bring Justin Turner’s killer(s) to justice.
While the warrants against Victor and Megan Turner were supported by probable cause, all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Just as Sheriff Lewis has honored the oath of his office and his commitment to this community in pursuing justice for Justin, Judge Young has upheld the oath of his office by following the law. As the testimony at the motions hearing revealed, the time that has passed since this despicable crime has resulted in witness testimony and evidence that is now unavailable. Furthermore, mistakes that were made 35 years ago could not be remedied. The Court has found that the unavailability of this evidence is unjustly prejudicial to the defense. The Court has also noted the lack of any new evidence from this investigation. We have no grounds to dispute the Court’s findings.
It is rare that prosecutors can say there is nothing more that could have done to conduct a more thorough investigation, but in this case, we know that Sheriff Lewis and his team of investigators did all they could do to find truth and justice.
Berkeley County Sheriff Duane Lewis, who announced the charges back in January, also released a statement following the dismissal:
Unfortunately, today charges Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office brought against Victor Lee Turner and Megan Renee Turner, in regards to the Justin Turner case, were dismissed by a judge. Berkeley County cold case detectives work tirelessly to bring justice to victims and families. This is not the outcome we were seeking; however, we understand the technicality of prosecuting cases from crimes that occurred years ago. We would like to thank Scarlett Wilson and the 9th Circuit Solicitor’s Office for their work on the case.
“Law enforcement may have some good people in there, but I think there’s a lot of bad people in there, too,” Victor Turner says. “And I think there’s a lot of bad people making a lot of bad decisions, making it hard for the good people…I think they failed us at the beginning.”
The Turners maintained their innocence throughout this ordeal.
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