CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, S.C. — A man accused of kidnapping and murdering a local mother is back behind bars after escaping from the Chesterfield County jail, but the victim’s family is questioning how he was able to get free in the first place.
Emanuel Bedford was on the loose for hours before eventually being found just a few yards away from the Chesterfield County Detention Center on Goodale Road. Bedford is facing felony charges in connection with the death of Deidre Reed, a mother from Pageland.
Channel 9′s South Carolina Reporter Tina Terry has been covering the case for years, and she spoke with Reed’s family on Monday. They told Terry they were worried about their own safety while Bedford was on the loose.
They say they don’t understand how a man charged with murder and kidnapping was able to walk out of the jail seemingly unnoticed.
“My mind was racing; I tried to call my sister, my mama, because Emanuel knows where all of our residences are at,” said James Reid, recalling his thoughts after he heard Bedford has escaped from jail on Saturday.
“They put our lives in jeopardy; not only that, but they put Chesterfield County in jeopardy,” Reid said.
On Monday, Chesterfield County Sheriff Cambo Streater told us Bedford was in an isolation cell away from the general population to protect him from other inmates. The sheriff says at one point, Bedford was allowed to make a phone call, and in that process, managed to slip away from the guard.
“He went out of a window that had bars on it and the bars were about this wide and this tall,” the sheriff said while gesturing with his hands. “He got his whole body through one of those areas.”
From there, the sheriff’s office says Bedford climbed a barbed-wire fence and ran away.
Bedford’s escape comes less than a year after two other inmates were able to run away from the Chesterfield County Detention Center. Both of those inmates were eventually taken back into custody.
“I think some of the issues we deal with are the age of our facility, number of inmates, and number of staff,” Sheriff Cambo told Terry on Monday.
Officials wouldn’t go into details, but the sheriff’s office did say an employee has faced disciplinary action for the latest case.
In the meantime, the Reid family is concerned that it could happen again.
“They don’t know the wounds and pain they cause this family because of what happened Saturday night,” Reid said.
Jail officials say Bedford was brought to the facility in April for a bond hearing and was supposed to be moved to a higher security facility afterward. We asked the solicitor why that didn’t happen, and he said he could only discuss it in court. We haven’t heard yet when Bedford will be back in court.
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