Heather Brooke Center murder suspect out of hospital, in jail

Heather Brooke Center (8) - shot in the head and died
Ricky Lee Blackwel (50) - estanged husband of the girlfriend of Heather Center's father arrested for the murder; shot himself once in the stomach, but is hospitalized and expected to survive
Chesnee (Spartanburg County), NC


Shackled and wearing a bulletproof vest over an orange jumpsuit, Ricky Lee Blackwell shuffled from the Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office to a deputy's cruiser Wednesday morning.

During the short walk that preceded his transport to Spartanburg County jail and booking on murder and kidnapping charges, Blackwell wore a blank expression beneath a scruffy beard and offered absolutely no explanation of his actions on July 8.

Blackwell, 50, of 248 Ridings Road is accused of grabbing 8-year-old Heather Brooke Center in a headlock and shooting her four times outside his daughter's Ridings Road residence. Witnesses said Blackwell shot Brooke Center in front of his own grandchildren, then walked to his residence next door where he shot himself once in the stomach when confronted by deputies.

Blackwell spent a week recovering from his wound at Spartanburg Regional Medical Center under supervision by Spartanburg County deputies. Blackwell was released Wednesday morning, taken immediately to the sheriff's office for completion of paperwork and transported to jail before noon.
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Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office Public Information Officer Tony Ivey said the decision to put a bulletproof vest on an inmate during transport is at the discretion of investigators. Ivey said because Blackwell's alleged crime is "so heinous that it shocked the conscience of the community" authorities used the vest as an added security measure while Blackwell was in the custody of the sheriff's office.

Spartanburg County Detention Facility Director Larry Powers said jail officials have the ability to "administratively separate" inmates by placing some in solitary confinement or grouping inmates accused of similar crimes.

Powers cited gang members and inmates with known enemies as examples.

"We typically get individuals ... obviously nothing of this caliber," Powers said.

An arraignment for Blackwell is scheduled for today, but it will be a procedural matter because the offenses must be processed in General Sessions court. Blackwell declined a jail interview request made Wednesday by the Herald-Journal.


A man accused of fatally shooting an 8-year-old girl at least four times Wednesday received notification Thursday that prosecutors will seek the death penalty while he was in a local hospital bed.

The notification informed Ricky Lee Blackwell Sr., 50, of 248 Ridings Road, Chesnee, that he will be the defendant in a capital punishment trial. Blackwell had not been booked at Spartanburg County jail at press time Thursday night because he was recovering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the abdomen.

Blackwell will be taken to jail when he is released from Spartanburg Regional Medical Center, sheriff's deputies said, and he will be charged with the murder and kidnapping of Heather Brooke Center. Blackwell is accused of putting the child, who went by Brooke, in a headlock, shooting her in the head and shooting her at least three more times.

After conferring with Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright and Spartanburg County Coroner Rusty Clevenger, Seventh Circuit Solicitor Trey Gowdy said he has "exercised my discretion to seek society's ultimate punishment."

"Murder of a child under age 11 is a freestanding, self-sufficient (aggravating circumstance) ... that qualifies the case for the death penalty," Gowdy said.

It is the first time in 2009 that Gowdy has requested a capital trial, and his office wrote S.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Jean Toal, requesting that she assign a judge to preside over the case.

"The paradigm we have always used is threefold -- the circumstances of the crime, the character of the defendant and the impact the crime has on the community as a whole," Gowdy said. "The execution of a child shocks the conscience of this community and warrants seeking of society's ultimate punishment."

Deputies were called to 244 Ridings Road -- where Blackwell's daughter, son-in-law and family live -- about 3 p.m. Wednesday to a domestic-related shooting. They located the unresponsive child, who had been brought to the residence by Blackwell's separated wife, Angela, so Brooke could play with other children in a swimming pool. Angela Blackwell has been romantically involved with the child's father, Bobby Center, for about seven months, deputies said.

July 8, 2009
8 year old Heather Brooke Center murdered in North Carolina

An 8-year-old girl who wanted to spend Wednesday afternoon swimming was brutally shot to death by the estranged husband of her father’s girlfriend, authorities say.

The Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office plans to charge 50-year-old Ricky Lee Blackwell, of 248 Ridings Road, with murder and kidnapping once he recovers from surgery.

Officials said Blackwell grabbed the child, put her in a headlock and shot her once in the head not far from his double-wide mobile home. The man proceeded to shoot her at least three more times as she was falling to the ground, and perhaps while she was on the ground, Spartanburg County Coroner Rusty Clevenger said.

The tragedy occurred about 3 p.m. on 244 Ridings Road — a narrow road in a rural area of Spartanburg County not far south of Highway 11 between Chesnee and New Prospect. A few mobile homes are the only dwellings on the road.

Blackwell and his wife used to live together on Ridings Road, though the two are now estranged. Their adult daughter lives in a unit nearby, at 244 Ridings Road — the scene of the crime.

Blackwell’s estranged wife brought her boyfriend’s child, Heather, to 244 Ridings Road Wednesday afternoon to go swimming.

“When she got here, her estranged husband showed up — he lives next door — I don’t know if he saw her pull in, if he knew she was coming or what,” said Master Deputy Tony Ivey with the Sheriff’s Office said. “That’s when everything took place.”

Heather Brooke Center, 8, of 981 Lightwood Knot Road in Woodruff, died from a gunshot wound to the head, Clevenger said. He called the shooting “heinous.”

Deputies were dispatched to the scene just before 3 p.m., a criminal domestic violence call.

A man put an 8-year-old girl in a headlock Wednesday and shot her to death, then shot himself in the stomach, authorities said.

The girl's father is dating Ricky Lee Blackwell's estranged wife. Spartanburg County deputies said Blackwell shot the girl twice in the driveway of a home where he had taken her and his estranged wife to swim and play. The home is in Chesnee, about 60 miles southwest of Charlotte, N.C.

Several adults and children saw the shooting and pointed officers toward Blackwell, investigators said.

Blackwell shot himself as police closed in. He was taken to a hospital but his condition wasn't released.

The coroner's office identified the girl as Heather Brooke Center of Woodruff.

Investigators said they weren't sure of Blackwell's motive.

"I don't know where you can go in the mind to justify shooting a child," said Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright. "I don't understand how you can get so angry."

The sheriff said Blackwell, 50, has a long criminal record. He was charged with murder and kidnapping. No one answered his phone Wednesday night.

"As soon as they called his name, I knew him," Wright said. "I'd heard that boy's name before."