Hampton Co. mother pleads for help to solve her son’s murder

HAMPTON COUNTY, SC. (WTOC) - Wednesday night, a Hampton County mother is pleading for help to solve her son’s murder.

The family in Hampton had just gotten home from a cookout with friends and family when gunfire pierced the walls of their home and killed a beloved son and father.

“My baby got killed trying to protect his baby,” said Kaleb Cave’s Mom, Lovetta Capers. “My baby wasn’t a troublemaker; he was working and was about to start a new job at a sawmill with his uncle in Elliot.”

SEE: 18-year-old killed in Varnville shooting

Kaleb Cave, who was preparing to start work at a nearby sawmill with his uncle, was shot.

Police say in April of 2023, a car drove by the house and fired multiple bullets into the bedroom window.

One of those hit Cave and later killed him.

His mother tells us that six other people were in the house at the time, but they weren’t injured, including his at the time 1-year-old daughter who Cave protected when the bullets ripped through the house.

So far, no one has been arrested and charged with the murder.

Cave’s mother said that police know who killed her son but want to arrest someone higher up the food chain.

“I know they know because I had cameras, my sister-in-law had cameras, and my neighbor had cameras. So, you can’t say you don’t know who did it. They keep saying we know, but we want to get the top dawg. Get the little dawg and then the top dawg will come later, once you get them, then you got your job done,” said Capers.

And bring justice not only to Cave, but to his daughter.

“She just asked me the other day who did it? What am I supposed to say? I want SLED to tell her who did it.”

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: SLED asks for information in ongoing investigation following fatal 2023 shooting

If anyone has information on this case, law enforcement and Kaleb’s mother ask that you contact the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division at 803-737-9000.