Full Notification

Joint press release of Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office and the District Attorney’s Office on the shooting at 175 Lakeview Drive Forest City.
 
On August 8, 2018 at 12:11 A.M., the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office Communications Center received a 911 call about a shooting at 175 Lakeview Drive Forest City.  When deputies arrived on scene, they located a deceased 46-year-old male in the residence with two gunshot wounds.  Detectives with the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office arrived at the scene shortly thereafter and began the investigation. In addition to the deceased male the other residents of the house were Chandra Nierman, the deceased male’s girlfriend, as well as Nierman’s twelve year old son and her two daughters, ages 15 and 16.  All five had recently moved to the area from Indiana. 

The investigation determined that on the night of August 8 the deceased male attacked Nierman, and was assaulting and strangling her.  During the assault, the deceased male was yelling that he was going to cut Nierman’s throat and kill everyone in the house. Nierman’s twelve-year-old son retrieved a firearm and Nierman’s fifteen-year-old daughter took the gun from her brother and fired it twice, striking the deceased male in the chest. One of the fired rounds fragmented, grazing Nierman’s sixteen-year-old daughter in the leg. The sixteen year old was taken to Spartanburg Regional Hospital and was released on Thursday August 9, 2018.  Nierman suffered significant bruises and contusions from the assault.

The investigation also revealed that the deceased male had threatened Nierman several times previously, and on Saturday, August 4, 2018 he had assaulted Nierman and fired multiple rounds from a firearm inside the residence to threaten and terrorize Nierman. The investigation further revealed that the deceased male, who had multiple firearms in the house and frequently carried one on his person, was a convicted felon and had two active domestic violence protection orders against him from two different women in Indiana and Ohio, although no domestic violence or assaults had been reported to law enforcement locally prior to the fatal shooting.  The deceased male has been positively identified as Steven Kelley, originally from Indiana.

On August 10, 2018, Lt. Jamie Keever presented the case to District Attorney Ted Bell, Assistant District Attorney David Norris and Assistant District Attorney Ken Sauve.  Based on the facts and the evidence, it is the conclusion of the District Attorney’s Office that the shooting was justified and no charges will be filed.