'Rot in hell': Four Air Force members are arrested after police say they painted satanic symbols on a 250-year-old historic South Carolina church
- Four Air Force members have been arrested after surveillance footage showed them vandalizing a church with satanic graffiti
- They allegedly caused about $3,000 worth of damage to Salem Black River Presbyterian Church in Mayesville, South Carolina
- The graffiti included messages saying 'rot in hell', 'Satan' and '666'
- Kayla Eilerman, Clayre Savage, Daveion Green and Brandon Munoz are charged with trespassing, malicious injury to a house of worship and criminal conspiracy
Four young members of the Air Force have been arrested after they allegedly spray-painted satanic symbols on a 250-year-old South Carolina church that tends to draw people interested in ghost stories.
The four suspects were arrested late Thursday, less than a day after deputies put out surveillance photos of the vandalism at Salem Black River Presbyterian Church, Sumter County Sheriff's spokesman Ken Bell said.
Satanic symbols and phrases were spray-painted on the church's columns and doors on September 29, causing about $3,000 in damage. The door to the church's sanctuary also was kicked in, but deputies don't think the suspects entered, Bell said.
The suspects are 18-year-old Kayla Eilerman of Ingleside, Texas; 18-year-old Clayre Savage of Port Barre, Louisiana; 19-year-old Daveion Green of Leeland, North Carolina; and 20-year-old Brandon Munoz of Baltimore. All are charged with trespassing, malicious injury to a house of worship and criminal conspiracy, Bell said. Court records did not indicate if they had lawyers.
Four Air Force members have been arrested after security footage caught them allegedly painting satanic graffiti on a historic South Carolina church
Clayre Savage, 18, (left) and Brandon Munoz, 20, (right) are two of the four suspects arrested for allegedly vandalizing a historic church in South Carolina with satanic graffiti
Kayla Eilerman, 18, (left) and Daveion Green, 19, (right) are two of the four suspects arrested for allegedly vandalizing a historic church in South Carolina with satanic graffiti
Investigators aren't sure why the four airmen from nearby Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter decided to damage the church, which appears on the National Register of Historic Places.
But Sheriff Anthony Dennis has said his department has had to deal with other problems caused by people who say the church is haunted.
'Several tips came in from the community, including from Shaw AFB personnel who gave us the names of possible suspects,' sheriff's office spokesman Ken Bell said in a statement. 'We began researching the names through various databases and social media.'
The vandalism included messages such as 'rot in hell'. There is about $3,000 worth of damage
The Air Force members allegedly spray painted satanic messages on the 250-year-old church
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The suspects face a minimum of six months in prison if convicted of the malicious injury charge.
All four suspects were given a $15,000 bond.
Salem Black River Presbyterian Church was founded by Scotch-Irish settlers in 1759. The current brick church was built in the 1840s, with a slave gallery in the balcony. After the Civil War, former slaves left and created their own church.
The Air Force did not say what discipline the suspects could face
The suspects face a minimum of six months in prison if convicted of a malicious injury charge
The church was one of about a dozen houses of worship on a list kept by Dylann Roof as he researched where he wanted to commit his racist massacre in 2015. Roof eventually went to Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, killing nine worshippers. He has been sentenced to death.
The Air Force did not say what discipline the suspects could face, but said in a statement that their behavior was not representative of their base.
'We feel we are part of this community, are proud to serve here and we are disappointed to hear of this incident,' said 1st Lt. Alannah Staver, spokeswoman for the 20th Fighter Wing at Shaw.
The suspects are also not allowed off base between the hours of 6pm and 5am. They will return to court on December 1.
The current brick church was built in the 1840s, with a slave gallery in the balcony
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