Suspect in the murder of Denise Grate Arrested

[JOSETTE]

Officials with the Richland County Sheriff's Department say Dion Briggs, the suspect in the murder of Denise Grate, has been arrested.
Authorities say Briggs was arrested on Monday at an abandoned home on Holmes Avenue. The home is next door to Briggs' mother's home. They also say Briggs is being charged with Grate's murder.

At a court hearing Monday night, Briggs was charged with murder. Bond was not set at that hearing, but the judge said it would be set at general sessions court in two to three weeks.

Grate was found dead inside a green Mitsubishi at an apartment complex on Fairfield Road. She was reported missing by her mother on Oct. 13 after she didn't return home from a trip to the State Fair with her friends.

Lakeland Fennell knew denise through her stepfather, who works with him.

It's a small connection, but as he watched her story unfold, he realized just how much of an impact she had.

"The amount of people from different areas of Columbia and from different areas of life all were connected by this one person," Fennell said.

Fennell didn't go to Denise's funeral, but he did attend her wake. He says he watched 150 people come and go in a matter of just 20 minutes.

"There was that many people that wanted to show their love and appreciated the life of Denise Grate," Fennell said. "It just goes to show you that everybody's life is something that a lot of people will never be able to understand but at the same time it shows you that everybody's worth knowing because you never know what kind of impact they've had on other people's lives."

Fennell learned that through Denise Grate.