Man charged with attempted murder of girlfriend before homicide

GREENVILLE COUNTY, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - Tyler Wilkins tried to kill his girlfriend Clarissa Winchester once before, the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office said. Less than a year later, Wilkins is accused of murdering her and leaving their newborn son to die.

According to attempted murder warrants filed last year, Wilkins pulled a gun on Winchester and one of her family members on Dec. 3, 2021.

On Wednesday, 11 months later, deputies said Wilkins kidnapped Winchester and assaulted her so severely at a home on Saw Mill Road, she died from blunt force trauma to the head and neck.

Winchester was pregnant with Wilkins’ baby, a boy she planned to name Grayson. The newborn’s body was also found at the Marietta home where Wilkins, now charged with murder and child abuse, was taken into custody.

The Greenville County Sheriff’s Office said they are familiar with Wilkins, who has been arrested on a slew of charges in the last year and a half.

Deputies said they found marijuana and a 12-gauge shotgun in his room in October 2021 while they were serving a search warrant related to a missing persons case at a home on Holtzclaw Drive. The warrant doesn’t confirm who the missing person is, but Wilkins’ ex-girlfriend, Jorden Nebling disappeared in October 2020 and according to her mother, Wilkins was with her on the day she went missing.

A spokesperson for the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office said they are looking into all possibilities with Nebling’s disappearance, but no person of interest or suspect has been named.

Just under two months after the search warrant was executed, deputies say Wilkins pointed a pistol at Winchester and her father before firing shots at them. A bullet narrowly missed one of the victims’ heads, according to the arrest warrants.

Deputies said after he was taken into custody on two attempted murder charges and a charge for pointing and presenting a firearm, Wilkins spat on a deputy and told him, “I’ll put a bullet in your head.”

He was granted bond in January was released from jail under special conditions: a restriction on firearms, an order for electronic monitoring, and no contact with Winchester. Now he is back in the Greenville County Detention Center, he was denied bond during a hearing on December 2, 2022.

Winchester’s family has started a GoFundMe to pay for the burials of her and baby Grayson.

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