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Easley preschool employee arrested on charges of soliciting a minor, police say

WYFF News 4 today starts right now. It's *** live Super Doppler 4 impact Dale. We have strong to severe storms possible again this afternoon. Coming up, I'll map it out for your area. *** body found in an upstate pond. The coroner saying the victim may have been there for *** whole month. Plus several candidates expected to run in the special election for late Senator Lindsey Graham's Senate seat, who *** political expert says we should keep our eyes on. Good morning. I'm Peyton Furtado. Thank you for joining us here on this Sunday morning. We're starting with our weather, taking *** look outside from our Peace Center sky cam. Let's see together. The sun just barely peeking out over the horizon here, 75 degrees, warm start to the day. It is *** live Super Doppler for impact weather day. We've got *** risk of storms. I know it always falls on the weekend. I'm sorry, and so is Grace Lou. Neither one of us wanted this. Uh, Grace has ***. at our forecast, Grace, can you tell us when we're expecting those storms? Gonna be in the afternoon again, which I know that's *** pretty much *** typical pattern we've been in these past several days, but around from 3 o'clock to around even potentially after sunset, after 10 o'clock tonight. So something to pay attention to for sure, be weather aware if you do have some outdoor plans on your Sunday. Thunder roars, you know what to do. Head indoors. We're staying dry right now as we do expect that level 2 out of 5 threat. For severe weather today, so in that higher risk across our area even than yesterday, front moves through, stalled out. Now we still have active weather across our area. So what does that look like for us early this morning? Well, it just means you're going to be pretty mild and muggy as you're getting your day started. We're closer to 90 degrees there by the afternoon for your lunch hour, southwesterly wind for us today with 92 by 3. By 6 o'clock still beginning to see those rumbles of thunder. Develop across the area. Thunderstorms expected for our folks in the mountains *** little bit earlier. Overall coverage could be *** bit more, uh, more today, right? We were dealing with *** few isolated storms. Today's *** bit more scattered and for sure once again, *** few of these storms could become severe, but I'm going to be eyeing the risk of flooding as they could be slow moving and of course damaging wind gusts up to 60 MPH. We saw this yesterday. It's going to happen again today. Coming up, I'll map it out for you town by town. Grace, thank you. In Greenville, *** heavy law enforcement presence swarmed businesses in Cherrydale last night. Our crew on the scene said many deputies with the Greenville County Sheriff's Office and Greenville City Police were there. Greenville City Police telling us two people were arrested after *** traffic stop led to *** foot chase. That chase ended. Across from Cherrydale Commons on the corner of Burgess Avenue and Poinsett Highway, stay with us on air and online as that story develops. And the Spartanburg County coroner telling us *** man is dead after *** single car crash. That crash on Highway 221 near Old Coltai Road was just after 2:00 p.m. yesterday afternoon. The coroner says 23-year-old Kamer Farrell died at the scene. That crash is still under investigation. And the Spartanburg County coroner telling us investigators are looking into *** homicide yesterday morning. The coroner says he responded to Spartanburg Regional Medical Center just before 2 a.m. The victim, thirty-year-old Christian Robinson, was taken to *** hospital from Valley Road in Lyman. The coroner said an autopsy is scheduled for Monday. Lyman police are investigating that while we know the Anderson County coroner's office has identified *** person who was found in *** pond yesterday morning around 11:00 a.m. They were called to *** body found in *** private pond off of Highway 247 in Belton. The coroner identified that victim as 42-year-old Shannon Carter. Authorities believe the body had been in the water at least *** month. Carter was identified by using her tattoos. No cause or manner of death has been released at this point. Now staying in Anderson County, *** man will spend the next 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to child sex crimes. Prosecutors say 33-year-old Donovan Austin Jr. admitted to sexually abusing *** minor over several months in 2023. The judge handed down the maximum sentence allowed under state law, 15 years in prison. Austin will also be required to register as *** sex offender and wear *** lifetime GPS ankle monitor after his release. The Cherokee County County Sheriff's Office says *** South Carolina inmate who was mistakenly released without required GPS monitoring has been found. Deputies found 39 year old Jesse Owens Friday night in *** Blacksburg community. Officials say Owens should have been fitted with *** GPS monitor before his release on assault charges, but that step was missed. The detention officer involved has been disciplined, we're told. Now in commitment news, appointed US Senator Darlene Graham addressed South Carolina citizens. She wrote in part, quote, Lindsey Graham dedicated his life to serving South Carolina and defending our nation. He accomplished so much, yet he still had so many big ideas that he was determined to see through. Now it's time for me to step up for South Carolina. Voters will have *** big decision to make as that race to replace the late Senator Lindsey Graham begins. Filing for the Republican nomination opens Tuesday with only days to enter the race. Linda Abrams, *** political science professor at Bob Jones University, says the compressed timeline could make it for *** crowded and fast moving primary. What we have now is everyone's scrambling, especially with this very short window for the primary, everyone is scrambling to uh put together *** campaign which typically takes months and now has to take days. So far, Greenville businessman Mark Lynch has announced his bid to run, as well as Congressman Ralph Norman, who made that announcement Friday. Former South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford has also reportedly filed paperwork signaling *** possible bid. President Trump threw his support behind Senator Darlene Graham on Truth Social, saying she should run in the Republican primary. Adams Abrams says the endorsement carries weight but does not guarantee *** win. The Republican nominee will face Democrat Doctor Annie Andrews in the November general election. And meanwhile Washington DC and South Carolina are getting ready to honor the life and legacy of the late US Senator Lindsey Graham. Graham's office recently released information on memorial service plans. The service in the nation's capital is set for Tuesday, July 28th. Then on the next day, July twenty-ninth, South Carolina will have services in Columbia and in Pickens County, where Lindsey Graham was born. Coming up, celebrating *** milestone. One woman who just turned 105 taking *** ride on *** Harley Davidson to mark her birthday. It's live Super Doppler for Impact Day. We have *** stormy Sunday ahead of us late this afternoon and even into your evening hours. Coming up, I'll time it out for you.

Updated: 2:15 PM EDT Jul 19, 2026

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Easley preschool employee arrested on charges of soliciting a minor, police say

Updated: 2:15 PM EDT Jul 19, 2026

Editorial Standards

Police in Easley, South Carolina, reported that a school employee was arrested on charges related to soliciting a minor.According to police, Heather Nichole Hill was arrested on Friday.Hill has been charged with criminal solicitation of a minor and eight counts of disseminating obscene material to a person under 18.The Easley Police Department said Hill was "employed in some capacity at Siloam Christian School."No