COLUMBIA, S.C. — News19 has learned more about Freddie Grant, the man just charged in Adriana Laster's death.
He was serving time for the murder of 15-year-old Gabbiee Swainson in Richland County. Sheriff Leon Lott said in a news briefing on Saturday that Grant could be tied to another killing.
"That monster caused so much pain to so many people," Lott said.
Grant was convicted of the 2012 murder of Swainson. Now, he's the suspect in the killing of Adriana Laster.
"He stole the key, he came in the darkness of night and kidnapped Gabbiee and then killed her," Lott said.
Swainson went missing in 2012. Deputies and the community came together to search for her. In a video from the News19 archives taken weeks after she went missing, Freddie Grant is seen joining the search efforts to find her.
It took investigators a year, and Grant's cooperation from prison - his daughter was arrested in connection with the case - for him to lead investigators to the Swainson's remains.
They were found in a grave three miles from Grant's home. Now, he's serving 30 years behind bars.
"They are related, and Freddie Grant's a common denominator," Lott said. "He lived close. He knew Adriana. He was the suspect from day one. We were all very confident he was responsible."
More than 10 years after Swainson's murder, Sheriff Lott said that, in addition to Adriana Laster, Grant may be a person of interest in another death.
"There's at least one more death we're pretty sure that he did. Again, we have to prove it, but we have time on our side," he said.
Lott said the sheriff's departments in Richland and Kershaw counties will continue investigating.
Sheriff Lott said Grant was transferred to a higher security prison on Thursday. News19 confirmed this through South Carolina Department of Corrections records showing he was moved to Lieber Correctional in Dorchester County.