Kantibhai Patel, Hansaben Patel were shot dead on Sunday.
By Raif Karerat
The bodies of an elderly Indian American couple, Kantibhai Patel, 72, and his wife, Hansaben Patel, 67, who were gunned down in Ridgeland, South Carolina, leading to the arrest of a 20-year-old suspect, is being flown to California today for the funeral.
Kantibhai Patel and Hansaben Patel worked as housekeepers and lived at Best Western Point South hotel in Ridgefield, for 10 years. They were shot and killed there on Sunday morning.
“A beautiful couple, no doubt,†said Sheriff Greg Jenkins, in a statement earlier. “Lives were taken from them, senselessly. You could not give an account for such a tragedy; why an individual would do such a thing.â€
The sheriff’s office told local media outlets that 20-year-old Joshua L. Poacher has been charged with two counts of murder in the double-homicide, but did not release many other details about the investigation, which is ongoing.
Jenkins disclosed the motive behind the slayings is still unknown, though they were able to track down Poacher after he tried to use credit cards taken from the Patels.
The Patels were found shot inside a room at the hotel, but Jenkins said there were no eyewitness accounts and no reports of any commotion to indicate an argument or an altercation.
One of the couple’s two sons is expected to arrive from Nairobi, Kenya, today. The other son, who is in India, is not able to come due to visa issues, according to sources.
The couple came to the United States in 2007 from Gujarat, India. They worked as housekeepers throughout in the Ridgeland, South Carolina-based motel. The Patels got their US citizenship in 2012-13.
The neighborhood does not have many residents of Indian-American community. According to sources, only 10-15 Indian American families reside in the area; and those too are scattered.
None of the immediate relatives of the deceased couple are based in South Carolina. Most of them are either in California or Atlanta, according to sources.
Minister for Community Affairs at the Embassy of India N.K. Mishra went to Ridgeland and spoke with local Indian American families, motel owner and Police to get first hand information on this gruesome incident.
Mishra told The American Bazaar that the embassy has been in touch with the victims’ family members. “We have been talking to them,” he said. “Whatever is required assistance-wise, we will definitely look into that.â€
(This story was revised on August 21, 2015)
5 Comments
Hard working Patel’s killed for few-bucks by a low life!RIP!
itz disgustin to think dat da lass face any human sees bees dat ova stoopid feral negroe wiff itz “do wha” looks
I am so sorry ben and bhai. May your souls RIP.
This is so sad to know that this couple was working an honest job for an honest living; to only have a piece of trash like that take their lives. I hope he is prosecuted to fullest extent and a little extra electricity when strap his sorry behind to the chair.
He is not a piece of trash he did a horrible horrible thing and he is sorry. God forgave him already. And we are sorry for the lost of two people. We all do things that we are not proud of and he didn’t Rob them he didn’t have two. Nobody knows what happened except God him and the Patel’s. So don’t judge unless you are God.