Patricia Grooms: Mystery surrounds death of TikTok mother shot in front of child

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The death of a South Carolina woman, allegedly shot multiple times by her boyfriend in front of her child, has sparked a campaign calling for justice as details in the case remain shrouded in mystery even five days after the murder.

Patricia Grooms’ body was found inside a truck with gunshot wounds on 12 November. The Colleton County Sheriff’s Office arrested Billy Mclean Head III, 38, soon after the shooting and charged him with murder. He is being held at the Colleton detention centre.

But investigators are yet to provide details as the investigation remains active, “limiting the release of additional information.”

Grooms’ family and friends have launched a Facebook group and social media hashtags such as #JusticeforTrish to demand answers.

According to the incident report provided by the sheriff’s office, they received a call from a woman stating that she was out with a man and a girl child – without specifying who they were.

“The male was stating to the female caller that he had been attacked by someone with a knife,” said the incident report, according to The Sun. “I arrived and found an unresponsive female in a truck with apparent gunshot wounds.”

The report does not clarify who the woman caller was, who she was out with or who was being attacked with a knife. The woman who was found unresponsive in the truck was Grooms.

The report has raised more questions among family members, who said it was injustice to shoot somebody and later claim that it was “self defence”, according to the “Justice For Trish Facebook page.

“We all woke up this morning and Trish didn’t… Why? Because her boyfriend of 3 weeks shot her in the head 4 times and killed her.. Where is he now? NOT JAIL,” a post on the page said.

Following Mr Head’s arrest, the family is now demanding a “conviction” and answers from the police to “prevent anybody else from getting hurt”.

“Lock this monster up!!! Sled we need your help in investigating,” the post added, referring to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (Sled).

Grooms’ friend Kristin Lovelace said she was in “shock” and alleged that the details provided in the investigation report do not add up, reported WCIV.

“This is a grown man. The woman is my size, actually smaller than me,” she said. “There were so many outs that, if she would have been stabbing him to death, he could have shot her in the leg and pushed her out the truck and kept on going.”