Tony Berry’s son has been charged with helping cover up the murder of missing Aiken County mother Krystal Anderson over the summer, authorities said.
Darius Berry, 23, of Blackville, was charged Thursday with accessory after the fact to murder. He is in the Aiken County Detention Center.
Anderson’s remains have not been found, but an arrest warrant says there is solid evidence Tony Berry killed his girlfriend and that his son was with him in Newberry County when the victim’s car was torched.
Authorities say they can prove murder using Tony Berry’s cell phone records as well as his Internet searches and purchases.
The 48-year-old suspect searched the Internet for how to commit murder and get away with it, the warrant says. Specifically, he searched for “how to carry out this crime and leave no evidence.”
He also purchased a gas-powered auger tool to make holes as well as a shovel, premixed fuel, plastic coveralls, gloves, a box of trash bags, as well as a large roll of plastic.
The warrant explained how the victim likely came to her fate when Berry came to her Wagener home on Aug. 20 and took her as her own son witnessed it: “Witnesses observed the defendant in a verbal altercation with Krystal Anderson. The defendant was later seen placing Krystal Anderson into the trunk of the defendant’s vehicle, a 2007 Cadillac CTS. Since this was observed, Krystal Anderson has had no further contact with family, friends or her employer. The remains of Krystal Anderson, to this point, have not been located.”
This week, cadaver dogs continued to search Newberry County for the remains of the victim, who was a mother of four. Tony Berry was the father of one of her children.
Berry was initially captured Sept. 28 at a hotel by the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department and was transferred to Aiken to be charged with kidnapping.
After Anderson’s disappearance, her mother, Wanda Sumter, told authorities that she was concerned due to a history of violence between her daughter and Berry.
For his part, Darius Berry has a pending February case in Barnwell County for unlawful carrying of a pistol.
