Former BHS Student Shot to Death
COLUMBIA (Feb. 4, 2016) – The Richland County Sheriff’s Department arrested a Columbia man Saturday morning, charging him with the shooting death of Deanndra Roach, 19, of Wilkinson Drive, Columbia.
Richland County Coroner Gary Watts said Roach’s body was found by a man walking his dog at approximately 5 p.m. Friday lying next to her vehicle in the 10000 block of Farrow Road near Blythewood. The Sheriff’s Department said Roach had apparently been shot several times, and she was pronounced dead at the scene by EMS responders.
An autopsy conducted Saturday morning confirmed Roach had died from multiple gunshot wounds to the upper body.
Saturday morning, investigators arrested Andre Heatly Jr., 22, outside a business at 7703 Broad River Road in Irmo.
According to Sheriff Leon Lott, Heatly was Roach’s ex-boyfriend. He was captured on video surveillance using Roach’s debit card at three different locations shortly after Roach had been killed.
Heatly was still being held at the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center at press time where in addition to murder charges he also faces charges of armed robbery.
Roach was a 2015 graduate of Blythewood High School, where, among others, she touched the life of her science teacher, Michael Varnadore.
“Dee was someone that I looked forward to seeing each day,” Varnadore said in a statement released by Richland 2 this week. “She would walk in and ask ‘How’s your day going Mr. Vee?’ With her smile, she could dissolve any stress that I might be experiencing. She was a true joy. I am truly saddened with the loss of Dee. I know she is in a better place, and looking at the sunshine today. I know she is smiling down on us. She made me a better person in the fact that I was able to know her.”