Murdered Mom’s Eerie Text Predicted Her Killer’s Next Move

A South Carolina man will be spending. decades in prison after he shot his. girlfriend, put her body in her own car, and then set that car on fire. It is a. horrific crime, and it is one that left. Bamberg County reeling as her three. young children and other family members. try to figure out how to go on without. her. We are going to break down the. critical evidence this killer left. behind. how a disturbing message she. sent to her friend about his intentions. before her death may have played into. all this. And the biggest question of.

all, could this have been prevented? Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and. Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. Real quick, you know why we can cover a. story like this in depth? It's because. of our sponsor, Morgan and Morgan. I'm. talking America's largest personal. injury law firm. I'm talking a firm with. over a thousand attorneys who have. recovered 25 billion dollars for more. than 500,000 clients. In fact, in the. past few months alone, a client in. Florida received $12 million when. insurance offered just $350,000. In.

Pennsylvania, another client was awarded. $26 million. That is 40 times the. insurers's offer. And Morgan and Morgan, they make it easy to fight for what you. deserve. You can even start a claim from. your phone. So, if you're injured, you. can start a claim at. forthepeople.comlcside. You can click the link below or you can. scan the QR code on screen. 25-year-old Megan Bodifford lived in. Denmark, South Carolina with her three. children. They were 74 and just four.

months old when she suddenly disappeared. last year. This is according to a. GoFundMe that was paying tribute to her. Now, Denmark is a small city. It's not. far from South Carolina, the South. Carolina Georgia line. Its police. department is small as well. So when. Megan vanished, the Bamberg County. Sheriff's Office and the South Carolina. Law Enforcement Division, also known as. SLED, they got in. They started helping. out. And it was how authorities were. notified that Megan was even missing. that is really chilling because. according to WRDW,

Megan sent a message to a friend saying. that if she hadn't heard from her in the. next half hour, she needed to contact. police because she was apparently afraid. that her boyfriend and father of at. least one of her children, Jared Davis, was going to kill her. That's the. allegation and that is exactly what law. enforcement claims happened. So to talk. about the ins and outs of this. investigation, I want to welcome back on. to here on Sidebar, criminal defense. attorney, civil rights attorney, Tyler. Bailey. Tyler, thank you so much for. taking the time. It's good to see you.

Um, this gives you goosebumps, right? A. woman apparently so afraid of her own. boyfriend, the violence that he might. commit against her that she sends this. preparation text, this warning text to. another. and we'll never know how. serious she was being, but whether it. was some kind of joke or I don't know, a. deadly premonition. It certainly gives. law enforcement indication right from. the beginning that something wasn't. right here. Have you seen anything like. this before?

>> You know, unfortunately with domestic. violence and cases like this, they're. always always so heartbreaking. And just. thinking about the fear that she had in. those last moments of her losing her. life, her children now growing up uh. without their mother um a child as young. as 4 months. And to know that I believe. this situation probably could have been. avoided. Um she clearly knew that he uh. was dangerous and that's why she text. her friend and I don't think the text.

that she sent was a joke. I think that. she was really fearful fear for for her. life and tragically she was murdered and. lost it. >> From a legal point of view, can the. message like that come into evidence at. trial? You know, there's hearsay rules, but there's also specific rules when it. comes to uh the statements from a. victim. Um, could that come in and be. used to prove that she's identifying her. alleged killer? >> I think it could come in under a hearsay. exception. At least the uh prosecution.

will certainly try to um whether from. other conversations that uh Megan had. with this individual she sent the text. to uh maybe a dying declaration. There's. some exceptions uh that could allow I. believe uh this statement to uh come. into evidence in this situation. And. from what I know about this case and. what I've seen, there's a lot of other. things that that point towards the. defendant here and his uh history with. the victim. So, I do see some way that.

this information gets into evidence and. even if it doesn't, the risk of it. getting into evidence is strong enough. >> Well, I will let everybody know there is. a conclusion to this case that we're. going to get to. But I was kind of, you. know, I was talking theoretically about. how it might happen, but let's talk. about what happens here. So Megan was. last heard from on Thursday, April 24th, 2024. It's just before 10 p.m. and she. was reportedly last seen in Denmark. wearing a gray t-shirt and these Batman. pajama bottoms. Megan's cousin Heather.

told WRDW, quote, "Her friends have been. sending me messages where Megan is. basically scared for her life. She said. that her child's father had a gun and if. nobody contacted her in the next 30. minutes to send the police." Now, unfortunately, according to an affidavit. that was reviewed by the outlet, the. friend that she had warned about. possible violence didn't end up. notifying the police until the next day. And that Saturday, the sheriff's office. in SLED went to the home where Megan and. Davis lived. And WISTV reports that cell.

phone location data led them there, although there's mixed reporting on. whether it was Davis's cell data or. Megan's. But the officers wanted to. perform a wellness check. And it turns. out Davis had an active domestic. violence arrest warrant out of nearby. Barnwell County. This is according to. independent media outlet uh Fitz News. Now WRDW reports that another warrant. accused Davis of having a shotgun. despite being a convicted felon who. isn't allowed to possess weapons. He was. also reportedly on probation. So Tyler,

let's stop right there. If there was a. warrant for Davis's arrest already, why. didn't the police just pick him up well. before he did anything to Megan? >> He should have been picked up. You know, the thing with warrants, especially if. you're looking at rural areas and um in. places in South Carolina, unless he is. stopped by an officer and they run his. his information through the system, they. may not know about the warrant. I he. should not have been out on a active. arrest warrant for domestic violence.

Um, he certainly should not have been. around a firearm. There should probably. be questions to as to whether uh he was. even out on bond at all or without. having GPS monitoring on for a reason. just like this. So, unfortunately, a. ball was dropped here. Um, and that ball. being dropped tragically uh was a likely. a strong contributing factor to Megan. losing her life. So, when law. enforcement get to the home, an incident. report reviewed by local media outlets. says that Megan's four-month-old baby.

was inside the house alone, but. thankfully unharmed. Deputies say they. spotted Davis coming out of a shed in. the backyard, so they took him into. custody on the warrant and there was no. sign of Megan. So, what happens? Law. enforcement, they get a search warrant. so they could go through the home. And. according to WISTV, investigators seized. an iPhone 11 Pro, multiple security. cameras, an HP laptop, a baby monitor, a. deer camera. The warrant reportedly.

read, "It is your aience belief that. evidence that may result in locating. Megan Bifford may be stored on these. items." So Tyler, explain to me, you're. talking about a potential domestic. violence case. You're talking about a. potential murder case, right? What? Why. are investigators specifically looking. for those electronics? What are they. looking for on those electronics to be. more specific? >> Looking for communications between uh. Megan and the defendant here. They're. possibly also looking for any video.

footage that could show him leaving uh. the residence with uh some supplies or. weapons that may have been used in. commission of the crime. Uh there's. there's some information about when her. where her body is found and how the. vehicle was that could show him leaving. the house with some of these things as. well. So all electronic evidence that. could show videos or also location is. going to be very important for the uh. prosecution in their case. >> And by the way, isn't this a sign of why. you have to act so quickly? Because in. cases in general, you could have a.

suspect delete that information, delete. that digital evidence. So to act quickly. as possible, not only to try to save. someone's life, of course, but if you're. talking about preservation of evidence, how important is it to get there. immediately? >> Yes, it's critical. I mean, deleting uh. your electronic footprints very hard in. today's world with the cloud and other. things, but getting rid of the devices. is more than likely. They could be. burned, they can be destroyed, they. could be given to a a close confident. who's actually accomplice in in a uh the.

crime if they take this evidence. So, it's very important for the. investigators and the prosecution to get. their hands off on anything that's going. to uh help prove their case, especially. in a situation where you have a. defendant who's trying to uh get rid of. evidence and escape responsibility. >> So, 5 days after Megan last contacted. anyone, the Banber County Sheriff's. Office, they called SLET asking them to. help investigate a burned car that had. been found outside of Denmark city.

limits. It was a dark gray Ford. Explorer, the same make and model that. Megan drove. This SUV was off a dirt. road. It was near some power poles. It's. in a rural part of the county and only. around 2 miles from her last known. location. This is according to reporting. from WISTV. Now, deputies said that it. appeared that human remains were inside. of that car, but it would take days to. sort out an ID using things like DNA and. dental records. And when Megan's remains. were officially identified, that is when.

prosecutors charged Davis with murder, possession of a weapon during a violent. crime, unlawful possession of a firearm, arson, and desecration of human remains. And now we know that Davis is headed to. prison. On November 10th, Davis pleaded. guilty to four counts and the judge. sentenced him to 43 years in prison for. murder. The other three counts, the. possession of a weapon during a violent. crime, thirdderee arson, desecration or.

destruction of human remains. That adds. another 30 years. But the judge decided. that those sentences would run. concurrently, meaning at the same time. as the punishment for murder. Tyler, I. have a lot of questions here. First of. all, why plead guilty? >> Probably to escape the death penalty. This is a case where the death penalty. probably could have been uh imposed. because there's some aggravating factors. uh with the murder and then also with uh. him committing a murder and multiple. crimes. There was a stronger likelihood. of consecutive sentences versus.

concurrent sentences. So all in all, I. mean, he's going to spend nearly 50. years behind jail. And the only. incentive to plead guilty to a charge. like this from from the defense or the. defendant would be to possibly save his. life because this seems to be a. situation where you don't see anything. regarding uh if he's competent to stand. trial. He certainly was competent enough. to try to destroy evidence. Um and these. aggravating factors probably would have.

resulted in a death penalty case where. you have a young mother of four. children. Um, this would have be. something that the jury and the judge. probably would have led to imposing that. the ultimate the ultimate uh penalty if. he was convicted. >> 43 years. It's a very very long time. But I did wonder when I was looking into. this, why run those other sentences with. the murder sentence? Why run it. concurrently and not consecutively one. after the other, which would essentially. be life in prison? >> Yeah. The only thing I could reason I.

think the judge uh allowed that to be. the case was because he by pleading. guilty uh admitted to his wrongdoing, accepted responsibility. So the court. seemed to be a little more lenient uh. with him as opposed if he went to trial, you know, stood there demanding his. saying he was innocent and then the uh. judge having to impose a sentence that. takes all that into consideration. There. could have been some discussions with. the uh defense and the prosecution.

regarding recommendations. uh or negotiated sentence. I I highly. doubt was negotiated. the state probably. said they had no objection uh to a. penalty that does not uh run. consecutively given uh the defendant. pleading guilty and saving I guess the. state the time, effort and resources in. prosecuting this case and uh to a jury. having a judge impose a penalty. >> I want your opinion on something that we. ask in a lot of these cases. Was this.

preventable? Okay, why do I say that? So, since Megan's murder, there is more. information that has come out about her. friends and family's efforts to alert. law enforcement to this abuse that she. was enduring. Now, the question is if if. if officers were planning any sort of. intervention is the argument they were. just too late because uh Fitz News spoke. with a friend of Megan's who said that. they reached out to Davis's probation. officer after seeing bruises on Megan.

And according to Fitz News, one message. said he is going to end up killing his. baby mama. He does a number on Megan. every day now. It's becoming a daily. occurrence and she's already had the law. called multiple times. But what he does. is he goes neck deep into the woods. before they arrive there. He has a whole. new warrant for that. He also chokes the. bleep out of her and he'll do it while. she's holding the baby. Now, the. probation officer reportedly told this. friend that Megan should call 911 and. then put the phone down so that the.

dispatcher can hear what's going on. You. know, maybe Davis wouldn't notice. And. the friend allegedly replied, "I told. her the exact same thing, but I doubt. she'll try to call again. She gave up. from what it looks like." The friend. also told the probation officer. apparently that Davis had a gun, but. Fitz News reports that the officer. didn't reply to that message. Two days. after Megan was last seen, the friend. texted one last disturbing message to. this probation officer. Quote, "Hey, we. think Megan is dead." Now, Tyler, is.

this dropping the ball on the part of. the probation officer? Is this dropping. the ball on part of law enforcement? Or. is there really only so much that can be. done here? You know, a lot of my work is. representing a lot a lot of times. victims in civil rights cases dealing. with the government and I believe this. is a situation where there is some. systemic system failure uh in protecting. uh victims of domestic violence um. because they're difficult cases and more. could have been done. You know, a lot of.

times you may have a victim Megan in. this case. I don't know the the extent. of the relationship she had with the. defendant. Um, but sometimes they uh may. not show up to testify. Sometimes, you. know, they may have children together. Maybe they don't want to see uh the. defendant go to jail. And it's really up. to the state to step in and see what. type of risk of harm that's there. And. in this situation, you have a probation. officer who clearly is hearing that the. defendant here in the situation is. violating terms of probation. He's being.

violent. You have friends who have. called uh probation, dispatch records. you have an active warrant for domestic. violence for his arrest which would have. required him to be in jail and his bond. to be revoked. All these things and. protections were put in place so that. defendants don't commit further crimes. while out on bond and victims are safe. And so if you look at all these things. here, all the warning signs, all the. communication and the uh uh. acknowledgment that her life was in in. danger by Megan, it certainly seems that.

it could have been prevented. And I hope. one thing that comes out of this is a. lesson uh for different prosecuting. agencies that these crimes are very. serious. Domestic violence crimes could. be very serious. There needs to be. safeguards in place to protect victims. It's really up to the state to step in. and when there's a defendant who's. clearly violating the terms of their. bond and there's a victim who could lose. their life, it's incumbent on state. agencies to do their part. Just to be. clear though, do you know if there's a.

legal obligation on the part of a. probation officer to step in like. something or or just say, "Hey, listen. I I only thing I can do is recommend you. call 911.". >> Well, I I believe that the probation. officer should have made some further. contact from there. They could have. looked into the terms of probation. I do. think it was negligent on the part of of. the probation officer not to do that. Now, I'm not I'm not involved in this. case or anything, but common sense says. that if you hear something like this, not just call 911. You're an officer of.

the court, too. You wear a badge. You. have a gun. Uh you have power to have. people's probation revoked. So, therefore, they should do something. about it. I believe. >> it's a really sad case. It's a a really. sad case from a number of different. angles. And we go back to the question, you know, could this have been prevented. in some way? I don't know. Tyler Bailey, thank you so much. Appreciate you taking. the time. >> Thank you. >> And that's all we have for you right now. here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank you so. much for joining us. And as always,

please subscribe on YouTube, Apple. Podcast, Spotify, wherever you should. get your podcasts. You can follow me on. X or Instagram. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll. speak to you next time.