Male victim identified in Sumter shooting that left five dead

SUMTER, S.C. (WIS) - The 38-year-old male victim who died after a shooting has been identified by officials.

Investigators say Command Sgt. Maj. Carlos Evans died after Charles Slacks, Jr. shot him after discovering Evans speaking with his ex-wife, Aletha Holliday in the backyard of a Sumter area home.

Evans was the Command Sergeant Major for the Headquarters & Headquarters Battalion, U.S. Army Central. Evans was from Petersburg, Virginia, joining the army in July 2002; he served in multiple duty positions and locations around the world before joining the U.S. Army Central team in 2021.

“Command Sgt. Maj. Carlos Evans was an outstanding leader and caring friend who inspired and lifted up all those around him,” said Lt. Gen. Patrick D. Frank, U.S. Army Central Commanding General. “CSM Evans was well known and respected by all, and the influence and impact he made within the unit will never fade. We collectively mourn the immense loss of his presence in our lives and our thoughts and prayers are extended to CSM Evans’s family.”

A family friend says Sgt. Maj. Carlos Evans’s homegoing will be held in Petersburg, Virginia. But his funeral arrangements are still in the process of being finalized.

Previous coverage:

A father shot and killed his two children, his stepdaughter, and an active duty member of the U.S. Army at the Sumter home of his ex-wife on Tuesday night, before taking his own life.

According to the Sumter Police Department, the mass shooting happened around 10 P.M. on Tuesday night at a home at the 100 block of Whitetail Circle in the Woodridge subdivision.

Police initially said the incident appeared to be domestic-related, before disclosing the relationship between the shooter and the victims in a press conference Wednesday afternoon.

Sumter Police Chief Russell F. Roark III said Charles Slacks, Jr. entered the home of his ex-wife Aletha Holliday using a key.

Sumter County records show both Slack and Holliday owned the home.

Slacks discovered his ex-wife in the backyard speaking with her 38-year-old male co-worker, Sergeant Major Carlos Evans Roark said.

Roark said Slacks then shot the man, went inside, and up the stairs.

He said Holliday followed, but Slacks turned the gun on her.

Holliday did not have her cell phone with her to call 911, as it was charging upstairs, according to Roark.

“She goes back outside of the residence, where the first individual had been shot, in search of his cell phone, wasn’t able to locate that,” Roark said. “Then she hears several gunshots.”

Roark said she, Holliday heard that she went inside, and saw Slacks at the top of the stairs.

He then committed suicide.

When Holliday checked her children’s bedrooms, she found that all of them were shot and killed, Roark said.

They were Aayden Holliday-Slacks, Aason Holliday-Slacks, and Ava Holliday.

Their ages were 5, 6, and 11, respectively. Evans later died at the hospital.

Slacks was retired military.

According to court records obtained by WIS, Slacks separated from his ex-wife and mother of the children, Holliday, on Jan. 1, 2022.

Holliday submitted a divorce notice on Feb. 21, 2023, over the separation. Earlier this month on March 2, the divorce was officially granted.

Court records state Slacks and Holliday shared two children.

Sumter School District Superintendent Dr. William Wright released this statement following the loss of the three children:

“Sumter School District is grieving the loss of three students. Two siblings attended Millwood Elementary School, and another sibling attended Alice Drive Middle School. Our sincere condolences are extended to the family.

School counselors and our Crisis Response Team are at the schools to assist our students and staff who need assistance with this tragic loss. Our hearts are filled with sadness, and we will continue to lend support to one another during this time.”

Shelly Galloway, PIO for Sumter School District, said counselors are at Millwood Elementary School and Alice Drive Middle School today for grieving students and teachers.

WIS spoke with one father who lives nearby on Whitetail Circle. He said his children played with the Holliday children, and he was taking them for counseling.

Senator Thomas McElveen, who represents Sumter County, sent out a tweet about the incident:

Roark said this could happen in any family setting unfortunately, but with it being such a tight-knit military community, this tragedy touches all of the department’s officers.

“As people, as a community in our nation we’re not conditioned to bury a child,” he said. “That’s foreign to us and it’s very shocking, and very emotional certainly for the family, the community at large, and other first responders that were there processing the scene and working through the process.”

Roark asked the community to pray for the family and the community.

“When you have a situation where little children were sleeping in the comfort of their own bed, and in no fault of their own had their life taken, particularly by a father and a stepfather, that’s difficult for us to rationalize,” he said.

RELATED COVERAGE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52sSt3OWNxE

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