SUMTER COUNTY, S.C. – The Sumter County Sheriff’s Office announced the county’s first arrest for fentanyl-induced homicide.
The sheriff’s office said 35-year-old Thomas Justin Barwick was arrested on Tuesday.
He also received the following charges following a previous arrest on Dec. 3:
- Distributing methamphetamine
- Trafficking fentanyl between 4 and 14 grams
- Manufacturing, distributing or possessing Schedule I, Schedule II and LSD narcotics
- Possession of a weapon during a violent crime
- Possession or sale of a stolen pistol
- Possession, concealment, sale or distribution of a stolen vehicle valued at less than $2,000
- Possession of other controlled Schedule I-IV substances
The sheriff’s office said Barwick’s home was searched on Dec. 3. It was later discovered that 62-year-old William Karl Joseph Myers died after taking drugs that he reportedly obtained from Barwick.
Barwick is the first person charged with fentanyl-induced homicide in Sumter County after the South Carolina legislature passed a bill near the end of the 2025 session, which allows suspects to be charged with homicide if they are suspected of supplying drugs that directly led to another person’s death…