COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina Supreme Court has ordered the unseal and release of records pertaining to the early release of convicted killer Jeroid Price.
Price was convicted of murdering college student Carl Smalls at a Columbia nightclub in 2002. He was sentenced to a term of 35 years to life with no chance of parole until he served 30 years of the sentence. However, Price was released from prison in mid-March 2023 and the records in the case were sealed.
Earlier this week, the South Carolina Attorney General's Office filed a motion to unseal the records related to Price's early release. A hearing was to take place at 4 p.m. on Thursday, April 20, in Richland County Court in Columbia.
Shortly after 2 p.m., the Richland County Clerk of Court responded to a request from WLTX regarding the 4 p.m. hearing, telling News19 the state's Supreme Court had taken over the case. The five South Carolina Supreme Court judges signed a petition for a common law writ of certiorari, directing the Clerk of Court of Richland County to unseal the records.
Based on that order, the hearing was canceled.
The Attorney General's Office also requested a bench warrant for the arrest of Price.
"He absolutely should not have been released from prison, and we need to get him back behind bars as quickly as possible," Wilson said in a statement provided on Thursday.