Father and Daughter Shot by Hunters After Being Mistaken for Deer

Sue Byamba
By Sue Byamba
January 3, 2020Trending
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Father and Daughter Shot by Hunters After Being Mistaken for Deer
Kim Drawdy (C), poses for a picture with his daughter, 9-year-old Lauren (L). Kim and Lauren died after being shot while hunting deer on New Year's Day near their home in Walterboro, S.C. (Courtesy of Funeral Cost for Kim and Lauren Drawdy via Facebook)

A father and daughter were shot dead during their hunting trip in Walterboro, South Carolina, after being mistaken for deer on New Year’s Day.

“Of all days, ringing in the New Year, something like this happens,” the victim’s brother told T&D. “I got a phone call. They said there was a hunting accident in Walterboro. They thought it was my brother and we come to find out it was.”

According to the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR), “Four hunters were attempting to move deer, also known as driving deer, near Barracada Road in Walterboro when two hunters were shot after being mistaken for a deer.”

The incident happened at around 2:30 p.m. local time, the department said, on the last day of the hunting season in South Carolina.

Colleton County Coroner Richard Harvey later identified the two as 9-year-old Lauren Drawdy and 30-year-old Kim Drawdy.

They were found in the woods behind Drawdy’s house where he had hunted many times before, the county said.

“I was devastated,” Benny Drawdy, Kim Drawdy’s brother told T&D on Thursday. He was reportedly at a New Year’s Day oyster roast when he heard the news.

“I couldn’t believe it when I first got the news. I said, ‘It couldn’t be.”

“It broke my heart and I couldn’t believe it, a twin brother and now there’s only one left.”

A friend of the Drawdy’s family commented: “Shocked, just shocked. It should have never happened, should have never happened. How some simple hunting trip can turn into a tragedy is beyond me. I don’t know how it could possibly happen.”

Autopsies for Kim Drawdy and Lauren will be performed on Sunday and authorities are still investigating the case, the Post and Courier reported.

The father and daughter’s loved ones started a Facebook fundraiser page on Thursday to raise money for their funeral.

The page stated: “Kim Drawdy and his daughter Lauren where both tragically killed in a hunting accident on New Year’s Day. We are trying to raise money to help with funeral costs for both of these precious souls. Anything helps, and all prayers are appreciated.”

SCDNR spokesman David Lucas told the Post and Courier that 16 hunting accidents have occurred in South Carolina last year. Eleven of them involved firearms and two of them were fatal.

“It’s not a thing that happens a lot,” Lucas said. “Hunting accidents are rare in general, and fatalities even more so.”

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