Aiken County authorities have arrested a suspect in the slaying of a Jackson man who was found deceased in the cellar of his home with his hands and feet bound.
Adedoyin Babafemi Odutola, 36, was arrested Tuesday at a home in Hephzibah, and he is being held in the murder of 61-year-old Eldon W. Ledford. He is also facing charges of burglary and kidnapping.
Ledford was found dead in the cellar of his Third Street home on Nov. 14, 2021. Ledford may have been dead for weeks, authorities said, and a cause of death was revealed to be from blunt force injures. Authorities have not announced a motive or commented on any possible relationship between the suspect and victim.
[adrotate banner=”25″]
Odutola has a listed address of Riverside Drive in Columbia, S.C., but he was captured Tuesday at a small three-bedroom home at 3038 Mistletoe Ave. in Hephzibah. He was captured by Aiken County with the assistance of the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) and ATF.
Odutola is being held at the Richmond County Detention Center, pending extradition to Aiken County. The Jail Report can find no background on the suspect, but a booking sheet said he was employed by Bojangles. He is listed as 6 feet tall and 180 pounds.
Jackson police responded to Ledford’s home for a well-being check when neighbors called about a bad smell coming from his house. When the officer arrived, Ledford’s body was discovered in the basement.
“The victim was in a stage of decomposition, and his hands and feet were bound,” Coroner Darryl Ables said.
[adrotate banner=”20″]
It turns out that Jackson police had been there before. They first conducted a well-being check on Oct. 20, 2021 at the request of the homeowner’s acquaintance. At that time, officers found his car in the driveway and went inside, where they found drawers had been pulled out in all rooms. But they didn’t see Ledford.
It was bizarre since he had been offered a position at Fresh Market of Augusta after taking a meat-cutting test. But he never came back. Store officials got worried and called him for days without getting an answer.
Greg Rickabaugh is the Jail Report contributor for The Augusta Press. Reach him at greg.rickabaugh@theaugustapress.com
