Black man shot to death, body dragged in S.C. - USATODAY.com: NEWBERRY, S.C. — The FBI and state and local police are trying to determine whether a hate crime was committed when a white man allegedly shot a black man to death and then dragged his body for about 10 miles behind his pickup.
A day after police arrested Gregory Collins, 19, in the murder of Anthony Hill, 30, the killing was all the talk in this town of 11,000 about 40 miles northwest of Columbia. Residents defended the diversity and improved race relations in their rural community.
'Newberry is kind of an exceptional small town,' said Chris McDonald, 32, who is white and whose family owns As Time Goes By Antiques downtown. 'Things here are pretty good. Maybe if you dug beneath the surface, you would find some tension. But as far as overt racism, I really don't see much of that at all here.'
Police believe the men met on the job at the Louis Rich poultry processing plant in town, said Newberry County Sheriff Lee Foster. Collins had worked at the plant since August and Hill since November, said Syd Lindner, a spokeswoman for Kraft Foods, owner of Louis Rich.
