Charges upgraded in Gaffney woman’s shooting death

GAFFNEY, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - The Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office said a man is facing new charges after a deadly shooting incident.

Deputies responded to Songbird Lane around 6:30 p.m. on Saturday. Once on scene deputies found a woman who was unresponsive with gunshot wounds.

The Cherokee County coroner pronounced the victim, 42-year-old Kesha Luwan Lucille Tate, dead at the scene.

Tate’s family told the coroner that she was in the kitchen of her home when she heard multiple gunshots. She was reportedly looking out a window when a bullet came through it and struck her in the chest.

The Sheriff’s Office said deputies investigated the scene throughout the night. They later detained a person of interest and booked him into the detention center around 2:53 a.m. this morning.

Nicholas Skylar Lucas, 30, was initially charged with involuntary manslaughter and shooting under the influence after he told deputies the bullet ricocheted during target practice. On Tuesday, deputies upgraded the manslaughter charge to murder and also charged Lucas with discharging a weapon into a dwelling.

Deputies said they determined the bullet was not a ricochet.

“The only way the victim could have been struck was for the shooter to turn and intentionally fire in that direction,” the sheriff’s office said in a release.

Lucas was denied bond during a hearing on Tuesday afternoon.

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