An Aiken man was charged Thursday night with murder after allegedly shooting his roommate in the head inside their residence on Sparkleberry Lane.
Vance Mack Fleming, 61, was charged with murder and weapon possession in the death of 56-year-old William J. Collins, a local carpenter.
Authorities responded to the home on the 1400 block of Sparkleberry Lane around 6:50 p.m. Thursday and found an unresponsive man with an injury to his head, sheriff’s Capt. Eric Abdullah said.
The victim was pronounced dead on the scene, and an autopsy will be done in Newberry, Coroner Darryl Ables said.
A motive for the killing was not immediately clear, but the victim’s son said Collins and Fleming had been best friends since childhood and had lived together for the past seven years. He said the shooting stemmed from an argument over a dog while Fleming was extremely intoxicated, and a third friend called the police.
