KERSHAW COUNTY, S.C. — Two arrests mark a significant milestone in a Kershaw County murder that Sheriff Lee Boan said his office never gave up on.
On Friday, the Kershaw County Sheriff's Department announced the arrests of 20-year-old Antonyio Gary Johnson and 29-year-old Dexter Maurice Thomas of Camden in the 2021 murder of Dena Thames.
According to Friday's statement, Thames was found dead alongside Gaines Church Road on Nov. 10, 2021, dead of multiple gunshot wounds. Through the course of their investigation, the sheriff's department said they determined that both Johnson and Thomas were suspects in the case.
With the help of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) the two were finally taken into custody, each on charges of murder, possession of a weapon during a violent crime, and criminal conspiracy.
Just months earlier, Kershaw County investigators marked the anniversary of Thames' death with a renewed call for answers.
"Dena deserved justice," Sheriff Boan said in Friday's update. "Today starts the process of her and her family getting the justice they deserve.”
The sheriff previously described Thames' death as the only unsolved murder in Kershaw County since he had taken office.
Thomas is now being held at the Kershaw County Detention Center and Johnson is detained in Lancaster County.
