‘She did it with heart and she did it with courage:’ Friends reflect on the passing of Farrah Turner

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - A Florence County investigator is being hailed a hero after succumbing to injuries she suffered in a shooting ambush outside a Florence home on Oct. 3.

Florence County investigator Farrah Turner died Monday after being mortally wounded in the shooting. She began working for the sheriff’s office in 2011 after graduating from the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy. It was there she was roommates with Richland County Lieutenant Brittany Jackamonis.

“It was nothing but smiles and laughs,” Jackamonis said. “Even through the hard challenges at the academy, the trying times, all I remember is her contagious smile. She was just full of life.”

After graduation, the two women went their separate ways but remained close.

“She is just so full of life,” she said. “Her spirit is infectious, her smile will just take you beyond this world. She was called and she answered the call of duty.”

Jackamonis said she was stunned to hear of the shooting, let alone to find out later one of her friends was involved. The day after the shooting, she visited Turner in the hospital.

“I gently put my hands on her legs and I just remember saying, you got this,” she said. “It is in God’s will and you’re going to be just fine, whether that be here or in her afterlife and God chose the other. I just knew that she knew I was there and that meant the most to me.”

During her time in the hospital, Jackamonis said Turner was surrounded by friends, family and received visits from law enforcement officers from around the nation.

“Law enforcement is truly a family and it’s a special calling,” she said.

A world without Turner is tragic, Jackamonis said, and life won’t be the same. However, she is confident in God’s plan.

Yamekia Robinson went to high school with Turner and said while they didn’t talk daily, she was always willing to help where she could.

“About four months ago she really took it upon herself to make sure my child was safe,” Robinson said. “She sat down with my child, talked with my child and kind of put herself in that motherly role for my child and I’m very grateful for that.”

When she found out the next day, she reached out to Turner on social media. Turner was last to respond to the conversation, something Robinson thinks about often.

“I wish I would have “liked” the conversation or told her again how much I appreciate everything she did for me and my family,” Robinson said.

Turner’s funeral will take place on Sunday at the Florence Center.

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