Authorities continue hunt for suspect released in error

Brian Smalls

Lowcountry authorities have enlisted the aid of the U.S. Marshals Service in the hunt for a missing suspect charged as an accessory to the 2007 murder of Lincolnville Constable Robert Bailey, the Charleston County sheriff said today.

Investigators have been working around the clock trying to find Brian Smalls, 29, who was mistakenly freed from the Berkeley County jail on Friday after serving a sentence for a parole violation.

Charleston County Sheriff's Maj. John Clark said deputy marshals have joined in the search with sheriff's deputies from Charleston and Berkeley counties. Authorities have reached out to Smalls' family for help and are running down any tips that come in from the public. So far, however, no sightings of Smalls have been reported, he said.

Smalls is considered to be a key figure in Bailey's case. He reportedly told investigators last year that he took Walter Fayall III, the accused triggerman in Bailey's shooting, to Charlotte, and that during the ride Fayall told him that he shot and killed Bailey.

Smalls had been held at the Hill-Finklea Detention Center in Berkeley County while he served time for violating the terms of his probation on auto break-in charges.

Charleston County investigators served Smalls with arrest warrants in the Bailey case while he was in jail, and a magistrate set bail on the accessory charge at $500,000, Clark said.

When Smalls completed his sentence on the probation violation last week, a staffer at Hill-Finklea contacted a warrants clerk at the Charleston County Sheriff's Office to see whether the suspect should be released. A computer check failed to flag Smalls as someone who needed to be held for transfer to Charleston County. He was then let go, authorities said. Charleston County authorities have accepted blame for the mishap and pledged to correct the glitch to prevent a similar release from occurring in the future.

Smalls is about 5 feet 10 inches tall. His last known address is 343 McGuffy Court in Pineville.

Anyone with information on the suspect is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 554-1111.

Reach Glenn Smith at 937-5556 or gsmith@postandcourier.com.