In a county that boasts one of the lowest crime rates in the state, three murders occurred this year.

In May, Markus Marquel Kibler, 20, was accused of killing his step-father Alphonzo Harris at the family’s home on Langford Street in Prosperity.

The 43-year-old Harris died May 13 due to a gunshot to the head, becoming the first murder in the county since 2007.

After calling deputies to the scene, Kibler was whisked away for questioning.

While no motive has been released, the two did not get along after Kibler’s mother died in January, investigators have found.

This murder was quickly followed by another.

Ronald Jackson Padgett Jr., 31, of Player Street, was charged with homicide by child abuse after allegedly killing his seven-month-old son, Isaiah Russell Ray Padgett, on May 5.

A death investigation also revealed old injuries to Isaiah.

Two older children were placed in the custody of the Department of Social Services.

The baby’s mother was charged with not taking the boy for medical treatment.

And in the fall, a knife fight allegedly turned to murder.

Raymond Robinson, 51, of Oxner Road, Newberry, is charged with murder in the Nov. 1 death of James Jimmy Wise, 51, of Olive Road, Newberry.

The two were reportedly at a friend’s home when the fight occurred.

Sheriff Lee Foster says alcohol played a significant role in the death.

Wise was stabbed under the breast bone and died later at Palmetto Richland Hospital.

Robinson was found the next day hiding near his home.

None of those charged with murders this year have gone to trial.