Sharonda Shontay Sims, 40: Detectives Need Help From The Public To Solve 2019 Murder
Neighbors found her body in a ditch on the street.
Investigators in Newberry County, South Carolina, have been pleading with the public to help them find the person responsible for the death of 40-year-old Sharonda Shontay Sims.
On September 17, 2019, at approximately 3:00 a.m., the sound of gunshots awakened residents near Drayton Street and Holly Berry Lane. Once the noise ceased, curious neighbors first called the police before they looked outside to survey the area. There, they found a woman lying unconscious in a ditch.
The police arrived within minutes, but it was too late for Sharonda. She was pronounced dead from gunshot wounds. Although investigators have shared that there were multiple shell casings at the scene, they've held back information regarding how many times Sharonda was hit. However, The State reports that she was shot at least twice.
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“I do believe it was someone in the community that murdered my child,” Sharonda’s mother, Martha Sims, told WISTV in 2022. “And I’m asking anybody, if you know anything, even the smallest little thing could lead to something. If you know something, please for the love of God say something.”
“I haven’t had a good night’s sleep since because I wake up the exact time my child was murdered,” she said. “I wake up the exact time the coroner and the investigator came here that morning. And this is often.”
“It’s dark, people weren’t out, so we really don’t have anybody that actually witnessed the shooting, but we believe there are people that know what happened,” Newberry County Sheriff Lee Foster said. He added that there were several drive-by shootings in the area and speculated that Sharonda’s murder may have been tied to those incidents.
At the time of her death, Sharonda was wearing a black shirt, blue jean shorts, tennis shoes, and a red scarf. Detectives are withholding some information for the time being to protect the integrity of the ongoing case.
Meanwhile, in 2025, WIS10 News reported on the cold case, emphasizing that investigators still consider it a “mystery.” They stated that surveillance videos show outlines of people and flashes from the firearms, but authorities are no closer to naming a suspect or suspects, calling it a “stalemate.”
“The last six years have been hard,” Sharonda’s father, Willie Sims, Jr., told the outlet. “It seems like to me my feeling it’s just as bad or even worse because we still want to try to get justice for my daughter.”
“We forgive you, yet we need closure,” Sharonda’s mother added. “In forgiving you, you need to come forward.” Martha also said she still drives past the location where her daughter was killed. “Sometimes I leave home the way that Sharonda was walking that night, and I will go two or three streets over so I don’t have to go the route that she walked. And some days I want to drive it and think. Sometimes I pass by the spot where she was murdered, and it’s like something jumps into my chest and I feel like that’s my child roaming because she can’t rest.”
Anyone with any information regarding this homicide investigation is urged to contact the Newberry County Sheriff’s Office at (803) 321-2211 or CRIMESTOPPERS at 1888CRIMESC.
Sharonda is our sister, and her life matters.
Case Number:
Agency: Newberry County Sheriff’s Office
Phone: (803) 321-2211
Email:
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