PORT ROYAL, SC (WTOC) -
This apartment complex on Battery Lane may be quiet today, but neighbors say that wasn't the case Thursday night.
"The lights starting flashing, police showed up, fire trucks," said Rusty Carrieger.
"I knew something was wrong but I didn't know what exactly was wrong," said Jonas Green.
But no one ever expected a murder in this apartment. Port Royal Police say Leo Deandre Scott, 26, shot and killed his ex-girlfriend in the head in her bedroom, then took off with their 3-year-old son and her car.
Family members have confirmed the woman is Valencia Compton, 21, who was currently serving in the Navy, working at the Branch Health Clinic on Parris Island.
Port Royal Police say they were sent to do a health and welfare check on the woman at about 9 p.m. Jan. 26, after they received information that she may have been shot after an argument with her ex-boyfriend. When they didn't get an answer, they went inside and found Compton dead in her bedroom.
"Its really a tragedy, it really is," said Green.
"She was a very friendly young lady," said Carrieger. "She was in the military, we saw her almost every morning when she was taking her kid to school."
Neighbors say they can't believe something like this happened in their quiet community.
"I was like really, I couldn't believe it," said Carrieger. "Like I said, normal people and all of a sudden, we find out she was dead."
Carrieger lives right next door and says while he didn't hear any arguments or gunshots, his mother did see something interesting outside Compton's apartment.
"When she got home around 4:30 yesterday she saw a gentleman pull up in a car and had a vase with two flowers in it," said Carrieger.
After the shooting, Police say Scott drove to Columbus, Georgia and dropped off the boy with family members.
The vehicle was recovered but investigators are still searching for Scott and believe he is in Georgia.
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