Adrian L. Silva. (Photo/Richland County Sheriff’s Department)
COLUMBIA (Jan. 6, 2016) – The death of a Columbia man initially thought to have been the victim in a Sunday morning motorcycle crash is now being investigated as a murder.
Richland County Coroner Gary Watts said that an autopsy conducted Monday morning revealed that Adrian L. Silva, 46, of Cornflower Drive, died of complications resulting from gunshot wounds to the upper body.
A motorist traveling along Longreen Parkway at Churchland Drive called 9-1-1 at approximately 3 a.m. Sunday to report a motorcycle crashed near the tree line. When the S.C. Highway Patrol and Richland County Coroner’s Office arrived, they found Silva among the wreckage and quickly discovered he had suffered multiple gunshot wounds. Silva was pronounced dead at the scene, approximately 1.2 miles southeast of Cornflower Drive, just north of Longleaf Middle School.
Watts said Tuesday that no additional information was being made public at this time as the Richland County Sheriff’s Department investigates the incident.
In a statement released by the Sheriff’s Department Tuesday, Sheriff Leon Lott said Silva “was a husband, father and a grandfather” who had only recently received a kidney transplant. The Sheriff’s Department is offering up to $1,000 for information leading to the arrest of the person or persons responsible. Anyone with information related to this incident is asked to call 1-888-CRIME-SC.
