EASLEY — Bond has been denied to 19-year-old Daniel De Jesus Rangel-Sherrer who is accused of killing Diana Martinez-Gonzalez after marching her off into the woods off Saluda Dam Road on Wednesday.
Deputies with the Greenville County Sheriffs’s Office said they were called to the scene following a phone call from a friend of the victim about a shooting.
“The caller was frantic about the situation, said it was freshly committed,” said Greenville County Sheriff Will Lewis during a press conference on Wednesday. “We showed up on scene — we get here pretty quickly — and the person took us down to 34 Frady, which is just off Saluda Dam Road.”
Lewis said the suspect was “immediately found” and Martinez-Gonzalez’s body was discovered a short time afterwards.
The coroner stated Martinez-Gonzalez died of gunshot wounds to the head.
A spokesperson for Greenville County Schools confirmed the 18-year-old victim was a junior at Greenville High School.
“Based on what we know right now, there was an argument between the suspect and the victim,” Lewis said. “But I couldn’t tell you what it was about at this point. This is as fresh as it gets. When I say the ink isn’t yet dry on the warrants, I literally mean it’s not dry.”
GCSO deputies said Rangel-Sherrer had also held another victim against her will before she was able to eventually escape to safety.
Rangel-Sherrer was charged with murder, possession of a weapon during a violent crime and kidnapping when he appeared in court for a bond hearing on Thursday morning.
“My question is: why did you kill my daughter?” Martinez-Gonzalez’s father demanded of her accused killer at Thursday’s hearing. “I don’t know (what) she did to you, why did you kill her?”
The victim’s mother said she wanted justice and that Rangel-Sherrer deserved to be in jail.
“My daughter is someone who was very happy, she had a future ahead of her and what he did is not right,” she said.
With bond denied, Rangel-Sherrer will remain in custody at the Greenville County Detention Center until his next court hearing.