Executive Summary
- Andretti Mondez Goss, 55, was arrested for the 2001 murder of Jennifer Lawson in Belton, SC.
- Lawson was fatally struck by a stray bullet fired into a home after a party altercation.
- The Anderson County Sheriff’s Office Cold Case Unit solved the case using new and old witness accounts.
- Sheriff Chad McBride indicated the investigation is active and further arrests are possible.
Authorities in South Carolina have arrested a 55-year-old man in connection with the 2001 shooting death of Jennifer Lawson, a 29-year-old mother from Belton, according to the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office. Andretti Mondez Goss was taken into custody on February 20 and charged with murder, possession of a weapon during a violent crime, assault, and discharging a firearm into a dwelling following a renewed investigation into the nearly 25-year-old homicide.
According to Anderson County Sheriff Chad McBride, the incident occurred on June 24, 2001, during a gathering at a residence on Camelot Forest Drive. Investigators allege that Goss was one of three men who arrived at the party and became involved in a verbal altercation with other attendees. After being asked to leave, the group reportedly stopped their vehicle in the driveway and fired shots into the home. Sheriff McBride stated that a bullet penetrated a wall, wounding a man in the shoulder before fatally striking Lawson in the head.
Investigator Cory Smith described Lawson as an innocent bystander who was in the “wrong place at the wrong time.” While the case remained unsolved for over two decades, the Sheriff’s Office Cold Case Unit, established less than a year ago, reopened the file in mid-July. Officials credited the breakthrough to a combination of reviewing evidence and interviewing both “old and new witnesses.” Smith noted that Goss, an Anderson County resident, had been a person of interest to detectives for several years prior to his arrest.
It is important to note that all individuals, including Andretti Mondez Goss, are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Investigative Outlook
The arrest represents a significant validation of the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office’s decision to form a dedicated Cold Case Unit. By successfully closing a second decades-old case within a year of operation, the unit has demonstrated the efficacy of re-examining dormant witness testimony and applying modern investigative focus to historical crimes. Sheriff McBride emphasized that the investigation remains active and termed the current arrest as merely the “first layer,” signaling that further charges against additional suspects involved in the 2001 altercation remain a distinct possibility.
