South Carolina murderer freed 16 years early was DATING prison guard who helped secure his release
Jeroid Price, 43, was quietly released from a New Mexico prison on March 15, 16 years earlier, after serving just 19 years of his sentence
A South Carolina murderer was released from prison 16 years earlier, thanks in part to the testimony of a former prison guard – who is now revealed to be his lover.
Jeroid Price, 43, was convicted of shooting Carl Smalls at a Columbia nightclub in 2003 and was sentenced to 35 years in prison.
Still, he was released on March 15, after a judge secretly released him on his last day before retirement, agreeing that Price would be released without notifying the Smalls family.
South Carolina’s Supreme Court is now appealing.
On Monday, it emerged that Price’s freedom had been secured, thanks in part to the testimony of a former prison warden, Asia Love – who had a relationship with him, according to the lawyer who helped put Price behind bars.
David Pascoe, who prosecuted Price’s case in 2003, said in a 2012 document that Love was Price’s girlfriend. The document was given to The state newspaper.
Price was convicted of shooting Carl Smalls (pictured) in 2003 and sentenced to 35 years in South Carolina
Love worked as a prison officer for the Department of Corrections from March 2006 to October 2011.
In May 2012, Love tried to be added to Price’s visitor list, claiming to be his sister. She has also not disclosed that she has previously worked as a prison guard. Her application was rejected after it was confirmed that she was not his sister.
In 2019, Love pleaded for Price’s release.
She wrote in her letter that Price helped save her colleague Sally Fowler in 2010.
One inmate, Danny Thompson, had escaped from his cell and attempted to attack Fowler with a broomstick. Price intervened and restrained Thompson, protecting the guard.
Love admitted she didn’t see the incident, but said Fowler told her about it.
According to Love, Fowler said she was on the floor when Price “came out of nowhere” to “save her life.”
Price’s attorney, State Representative Todd Rutherford, said it was wrong to put too much emphasis on Love’s testimony.
Attorney General Alan Wilson called for Price to be returned to prison just an hour after the parole order was made public on April 17
Judge Casey Manning was required by state law to send the warrant to the Chief Justice, but never did
He said Friday that he didn’t know if the two were ever in a relationship, but that Love’s affidavit was not the main factor in Price’s parole.
He said it was more impactful that Price told someone about an escaped convict, Jimmy Lee Causey, who then told authorities.
A violent bank robber and kidnapper, Causey had escaped from a maximum security prison in Dorchester County and was on the run in Texas in 2017.
Price contacted someone outside the prison who then informed corrections officers of Causey’s whereabouts, DOC officials confirmed, aiding in his arrest.
At the time corrections got the tip, it didn’t even know Causey had escaped.
A second time Price comes to the aid of another prison guard who is being attacked, in 2017.
The South Carolina Supreme Court on Wednesday decided at noon to hear oral arguments on whether Price was unlawfully released and should be re-arrested.
The decision to release him, made by Judge Casey Manning, was never approved by the area’s Chief Justice, as required by law.
Price was part of the Bloods street gang and was convicted of the murder of 22-year-old football player Carl Smalls at a Colombia nightclub.
The father-of-five shot Smalls dead because he was affiliated with a rival gang, the Crips – though police said at trial he was not a full member.
Smalls’ family found out about Price’s release via automated phone call, with his family saying the decision is “not fair”
Price was part of the Bloods street gang and was convicted of the murder of 22-year-old football player Carl Smalls at a Colombia nightclub
Smalls’s family found out about Price’s release via automated phone call, with his family saying the decision is “not fair.”
Andrianne Smalls, Carl’s brother, told News19, “That sort of leaves us on the upside because we don’t know where he stands, what his intentions are. We don’t know anything.
“We just celebrated 20 years since his death and a few months later we hear that he is free.
“Just finish your 16 years you’ve had and then it’s done, and we’ll go from there. But this here isn’t fair.’
The family is urging him to complete his time, after the AG requested a warrant for Price’s arrest.
Smalls’ father, Carl Jr., added, “I was just devastated. They wouldn’t say anything; it was a done deal. “We are the law, this is what we did and you handle it.”