LEXINGTON COUNTY, S.C. — The Lexington County Sheriff's Department has charged two people in the shooting death of an 8-year-old boy at a home early Tuesday morning.
Deputies have charged 23-year-old Linda Lyn Monette and 24-year-old Reynerio Rafael Romero Jr. in the death of Mason Hanahan at a home on Cedar Vale Drive.
Monette, who was charged earlier this week with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and obstruction of justice, is now also charged with murder, attempted murder, criminal conspiracy, burglary and armed robbery. Deputies said Monette was in the home at the time of the crime.
Warrants show that Romero is charged with being an accessory to murder before the fact and criminal conspiracy.
“Over the course of our investigation, we’ve gathered information indicating Monette actively conspired with Romero to plan and carry out the armed robbery in the 100 block of Cedar Vale Drive,” Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon said. “The plan was for someone to burglarize the home and take several pounds of marijuana, which was known to be in the residence.”
Sheriff Koon said Romero and Monette are being held at the Lexington County jail.
Koon also said they are looking for someone else in the incident.
“Multiple detectives are still hard at work on this case as we seek to identify and locate another co-defendant,” Koon said. “This was not a random act and it will take us some time to sort out who knew and did what.”
Koon said tipsters can remain anonymous when they share information by calling Crimestoppers at 888-Crime-SC, logging onto www.midlandscrimestoppers.com and clicking on the "Submit a tip" tab, or by downloading the P3 Tips app for their Apple or Android device.