WINNSBORO – A Winnsboro man has been arrested for providing a 17-year-old with a handgun and providing alcohol to minors as young as 13, state investigators alledge.
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) arrested three Fairfield County residents on July 14 following an investigation into multiple incidents involving the distribution of firearms and alcohol to minors.
William Wesley Jones, 38, faces the most serious charges, including delivery of a pistol to a minor and three counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
According to arrest warrants, Jones provided a Taurus G2C handgun to a 17-year-old in February 2026. Investigators said the teenager took the weapon to a party where he brandished it before the gun was stolen. Witnesses told SLED agents that Jones allowed the minor to “regularly possess” the handgun.
The investigation also uncovered a pattern of organized underage drinking at the Winnsboro residence Jones shared with 39-year-old Brittiany Alex Watts.
Affidavits state that in December 2025, Jones and Watts watched and recorded videos as a 13-year-old, a 16-year-old, and a 17-year-old “shotgunned” Twisted Tea malt beverages and took shots of liquor in their kitchen. Agents noted the kitchen was directly adjacent to the living room where the adults were sitting.
Between November 2025 and January 2026, Jones reportedly drank with the juveniles on multiple occasions and used the Cash App mobile payment service to facilitate alcohol purchases for them, warrants state.
Watts was charged with one count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor for her role in the December gathering.
A third individual, James Daniel McDaniel Jr., 35, was charged with purchasing and giving beer or wine to a minor. Investigators found four Cash App transactions on a 16-year-old’s phone between December 2025 and January 2026 showing that McDaniel purchased alcohol for the teen at various stores throughout Fairfield County.
The Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office requested the SLED investigation after the handgun was reported stolen.
Jones, Watts and McDaniel were booked into the Fairfield County Detention Center on July 14. The cases will be prosecuted by the 6th Judicial Circuit Solicitor’s Office.