Criminal Defense Lawyer in Florence, SC

FLORENCE COUNTY, S.C. (WPDE) — A woman was sentenced for leaving the scene of a crash that injured a grandmother in July.

Nita Sheree Matthews, 50, pled guilty last month to leaving the scene of an accident resulting in great bodily injury to an incident in July of 2023 that badly injured a woman, according to S.C. Attorney General's Office Communications Director Robert Kittle.

Kittle said the case pled on Dec. 15, 2025, in front of S.C. Circuit Court Judge Paul Burch in Florence. The victim was present and spoke.

He said Matthews was represented by James Hoffmeyer, and Matthews spoke during the hearing, along with her family and friends in the community.

"She was sentenced to 8 years suspended to the service of 1 year, followed by probation for 5 years to terminate upon the payment of $20,000 restitution or the Department of Probation, Parole, and Pardon Services determining it should be terminated. This was a straight-up plea as charged to leaving the scene of an accident resulting in great bodily injury, which carries 30 days to 10 years and a fine of $5,000-$10,000 with a license revocation," said Kittle.

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Police said 57-year-old Michelle Campbell ran out of gas on Monday in the 2300 block of Hoffmeyer Road and was pushing her car off the roadway when she was hit by another vehicle.

Campbell's relatives said she had surgery for her injuries and spent 23 days in the hospital.

Kittle said that Matthews has filed a reconsideration of her sentence, but it's not clear if the judge has heard arguments for reconsideration of her sentence at this time.

Florence County Detention Center booking reports show Matthews was booked at 9:27 a.m. on Monday and remains there at this time, under sentence for general sessions court.

From Florence, SC to Music Success: How Artists Build Careers Outside the Industry Centers

Music success doesn’t start in Los Angeles, Atlanta, or New York—it starts where the work gets done. Florence, South Carolina isn’t known as a music capital, but that’s exactly why it has become fertile ground for independent artists who understand leverage, ownership, and long-term thinking. In 2025, geography is no longer a limitation. It’s a filter.

Artists coming out of Florence are proving that success doesn’t require proximity to power—it requires control over process.

Why Florence, SC Is an Advantage, Not a Disadvantage

Smaller cities force clarity. There are fewer shortcuts, fewer distractions, and fewer illusions about how the industry works. Artists in Florence don’t expect to be “discovered.” They expect to build.

Lower cost of living means less pressure to monetize prematurely. That allows artists to reinvest into equipment, visuals, marketing, and education instead of rushing into bad deals for survival. Time becomes an asset instead of a threat.

Distance from industry hubs also builds self-reliance. When there’s no local machine to lean on, artists learn how to operate every part of their career themselves—and that knowledge compounds.

The Shift: Internet Over Industry Geography

The music industry used to be gatekept by location. Today, distribution and attention are global.

Streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music don’t care where an artist is from—they care how listeners behave. Algorithms respond to consistency, engagement, and retention, not ZIP codes.

Short-form platforms like TikTok collapsed the distance between small towns and global audiences. A video filmed in Florence can outperform one filmed in Hollywood if the hook lands harder.

This shift changed everything.

Building Locally, Thinking Globally

Artists from Florence who find success rarely abandon their roots early. Instead, they use their environment as fuel. Local stories feel more authentic because they are. That authenticity travels further than imitation.

Rather than chasing trends from major cities, successful artists refine a distinct sound and identity. They don’t try to sound like “the industry.” They sound like where they’re from—polished, but grounded.

That identity becomes memorable. Memorability is currency.

Infrastructure Before Exposure

One of the defining traits of artists who succeed from Florence is that they build infrastructure before visibility. They set up proper distribution, register their music correctly, and understand ownership early.

They don’t wait until numbers are big to act professional. They act professional so numbers can grow safely.

This includes:

Owning or licensing masters intentionally

Tracking releases and metadata

Building content systems

Learning how revenue flows

When momentum hits, the foundation is already in place.

Content Replaces Proximity

Artists in major cities once benefited from physical proximity to studios, executives, and tastemakers. Artists in Florence replace that advantage with content volume and consistency.

Daily clips. Repeated hooks. Behind-the-scenes footage. Lifestyle context. Process documentation.

Content becomes the new networking. Instead of shaking hands, artists let the internet observe their work ethic in real time. Over time, that visibility attracts opportunities organically—often without chasing them.

People don’t ask, “Where are you located?”

They ask, “How did you build this?”

Community Over Competition

Smaller markets often foster collaboration instead of competition. Artists from Florence tend to build alongside each other, sharing resources, studios, and knowledge. That collective growth raises the visibility of the entire scene.

When one artist breaks through, attention spills over. Florence becomes associated with output instead of obscurity. That reputational shift benefits everyone who stayed consistent.

Scenes aren’t born in boardrooms. They’re built through repetition.

Mental Toughness as a Competitive Edge

Building from a non-industry city requires patience. There are fewer immediate wins and less external validation. Artists who succeed from Florence develop a different psychological profile—they’re less reactive, less desperate, and more disciplined.

That mental toughness becomes an edge when pressure increases later. When attention arrives, they’re ready. When deals appear, they’re selective. When numbers fluctuate, they don’t panic.

Calm builders outlast emotional movers.

Success Without Relocation

One of the most important changes in modern music is that relocation is no longer mandatory. Artists can build leverage from Florence and move later—or never move at all.

By the time relocation becomes an option, it’s strategic, not aspirational. Moves are made with leverage, resources, and clarity—not hope.

That inversion of the old model is where real power lives.

Final Perspective

Florence, SC is not a barrier to music success. It’s a proving ground.

Artists who build there learn how to operate independently, think long-term, and rely on systems instead of proximity. When success comes, it’s earned—not borrowed.

The industry didn’t move closer to Florence.

Florence moved closer to the industry—through the internet, through discipline, and through ownership.

And in this era, that path isn’t the exception anymore.

It’s the blueprint.

FLORENCE, S.C. (WPDE) — The land is cleared, and construction is moving forward on a new Publix grocery store.

It's located at the intersection of Palmetto Street and Ebenezer Road in West Florence.

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For many residents, the long-awaited grocery chain brings excitement and convenience.

“We're excited about it," Wes Mahon, a Florence resident told us. "We’re looking forward to it and it's going to be really nice and things are going to be great."

Others said traffic is already a concern, especially during peak hours.

"I do notice that certain parts of Florence have a huge traffic problem, especially during rush hour especially during weekdays so that’s always a concern," Yolanda Ross, another Florence resident said.

Mahon and his wife have lived in West Florence for eight years.

They welcomed the added food options, even if it brings more congestion.

“Well I’m sure the traffic is going to be heavier but I’m thinking it’ll be worth it so I’m not too much worried about that," Mahon said.

The nearly 47,000 square-foot store will join other nearby supermarkets like Food Lion and KJ’s, placing three grocery options along one of West Florence’s busiest corridors.

Ross agreed the new construction has it's benefits.

“At least there’s a trade off to this which is you get more food options," Ross said. "You might put a grocery store that is in a food desert area and employment, so I think you know in the grand scheme of things we have to give up a little to get a little and I feel like it might be worth it even if there is traffic."

While construction continues, Publix has not yet announced an opening date.

The grocery store is expected to employ about 140 people.

April Jones was awarded $10 million in a 2022 trial after a nail injury led to her requiring amputation. The case will now head back to trial after a court ruling.

FLORENCE, S.C. — A South Carolina woman's lawsuit against Walmart will head back to trial, more than three years after she was awarded $10 million for an injury she suffered at the store.

In a November opinion, the South Carolina Court of Appeals reversed a 2021 decision in Florence County that awarded $10 million to April Jones.

Court records say Jones stepped on a rusty nail at a Walmart store in Florence in June 2015. The nail had to be surgically removed, eventually causing her right leg to be partially amputated.

Jones sued Walmart in 2017. The case went to trial in November 2021, when a jury found Walmart liable.

Walmart subsequently appealed, claiming Jones's attorneys erred by including photographs that were shown to the jury before the images were admitted as evidence.

The photographs, taken by Jones's legal team during an unscheduled visit to the store in 2019, showed nails protruding from wooden pallets and damaged pallets on the sales floor.

The appeals court found that the trial court had previously ruled the photographs inadmissible but allowed Jones's attorneys to show them anyway without providing a curative instruction to the jury after Walmart objected.

Additionally, the court found that video footage from the date of the alleged injury showed the floor was clean and free of pallet debris, contradicting the implication of the photographs taken years later.

A new trial will be held for the case in Florence County. Jones's attorneys can appeal the decision to the South Carolina Supreme Court, the state's highest court. However, nothing has been filed since the Nov. 26 ruling. It's not known when the new trial will take place.

FLORENCE COUNTY, S.C. (WPDE) — Charges of two counts of failing to report child abuse/neglect have been dismissed against Jessica Elmore, according to Twelfth Circuit Deputy Solicitor Todd Tucker.

She was accused, along with two others at Maranatha Christian School, of failing to report child abuse against two children at the hands of a former daycare teacher.

In May, the school's former daycare worker, 73-year-old Laurin Boyce, pleaded guilty to two counts of unlawful conduct towards a child (felonies) for concurrent 90-day sentences with credit for time served.

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Prosecutors said that it was a negotiated plea with the consent of the victims and all parties in the case.

Investigators said that on Jan. 23 Boyce is alleged to have "intentionally and repeatedly assaulted a child by slamming the head of the child into the crib, covering the child's head with a blanket, pressing down on the child’s head for a length of time and also dragging the child out of the room."

Furthermore, investigators said on Jan. 30 that Boyce "approached a child on the playground, knocked the child over, picked the child up and carried the child by the arm and leg before intentionally dropping the child from waist height onto the child’s head."

South Carolina law requires that certain professionals, including teachers, principals and counselors, report known or suspected cases of child abuse or neglect.

Tucker said as the investigation continued, it did appear Elmore did report some things.

He added after consulting with the families of the victims, all of whom agreed that the charges against Elmore should be dismissed in the best interests of justice.

Elmore’s lawyers, Rose Mary Parham and Shipp Daniel, said they’re going to release a statement at a later time.

At this time, charges are still pending against two others.