LEXINGTON, S.C. — The father of a little boy who was killed in a shooting in Lexington earlier this year is now facing charges connected to drugs being found in the home.
Officers announced Tuesday that Austin Graham Hanahan, 35, is charged with unlawful conduct to a child, according to arrest warrants. Hanahan is also charged with possession with intent to distribute marijuana.
He's the father of 8-year-old Mason Hanahan, was was killed by gunfire during a shootout in May in what officers say was a plot to rob the home.
“During the course of their investigation last spring, detectives determined Hanahan was selling and storing illegal narcotics at his home on Cedar Vale Court,” Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon said. “Investigators located several pounds of marijuana, thousands of dollars in cash and several guns hidden throughout the house.”
Austin Hanahan spent much of the summer in a hospital receiving treatment for a gunshot wound he sustained during the home invasion plot.
“Hanahan exchanged gunfire that night with someone who we believe conspired with others to steal drugs and cash out of the house,” Koon said. “We’re still working to identity and locate that other person.”
Two people had already been charged in connection with the crime: 23-year-old Linda Lyn Monette and 24-year-old Reynerio Rafael Romero Jr.. Monette is charged with murder, attempted murder, criminal conspiracy, burglary and armed robbery. Deputies said Monette was in the home at the time of the crime. Warrants show that Romero is charged with being an accessory to murder before the fact and criminal conspiracy.
Hanahan is being held in the Lexington County Detention Center while he awaits a bond hearing.
