COLUMBIA, S.C. (WBTW) — Fred Hopkins Jr. was moved to a South Carolina Department of Corrections facility on Friday after being sentenced to life in prison a day earlier for killing two Florence County law-enforcement officers and wounding five others in an ambush-style attack in October 2018.
Hopkins arrived Friday at the Kirkland Reception and Evaluation Center in Columbia, which is where all male inmates are processed into the Department of Corrections system, a spokesperson said.
While at the facility, he will undergo medical tests and mental health and education assessments, the spokesperson said. Corrections officials will also be gathering additional background information.
“The SCDC inmate classification system will follow the same process it follows for all inmates: evaluate the results of tests, assessments and screenings administered to him, taking into account his crime and sentence, and use all of this information to assign the inmate a specific custody level and prison,” the spokesperson said in an email to News13.
This evaluation process takes about 45 days, the spokesperson said. After the process is complete, Hopkins will be sent to one of the Department of Corrections’ maximum-security prisons.
Hopkins was sentenced Thursday afternoon following several hours of testimony and statements from victims and family members of the wounded officers, and the slain officers — Florence Police Officer Terrence Carraway and Florence County Sheriff’s Office investigator Farrah Turner.
Hopkins pleaded guilty to all charges in a hearing held on Oct. 12 in Aiken County, 12th Circuit Solicitor Ed Clements said.
The charges stemmed from an attack on Oct. 3, 2018, when authorities went to Hopkins’ home off Hoffmeyer Road in Florence to try to serve Hopkins’ son, Seth, with a warrant related to the sexual abuse of a minor. Seth Hokins eventually pleaded guilty in December 2019 to a sex charge involving a minor and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
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Dennis Bright is a Digital Producer at News13. He joined the team in May 2021. Dennis is a West Virginia native and a graduate of Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. Follow Dennis on, Facebook, X, formerly Twitter, and read more of his work here.
