Boyfriend accused of murdering TikToker mom Patricia Grooms once admitted to shooting man in back
A SLAIN TikTok mom’s boyfriend, who was charged in her death, allegedly admitted to shooting a man in 2018, according to police reports exclusively obtained by The Sun.
Billy Mclean Head III is accused of killing Patricia Grooms, a 32-year-old mom of two, on November 12 and was arrested and charged with murder four days later.
In both shootings, the 38-year-old claimed he acted in self defense, according to police reports obtained by The Sun via separate open records requests.
The 2018 shooting was investigated by from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) and and Patricia’s homicide is being handled by the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office.
Head III was never charged for the 2018 shooting because there was “insufficient evidence,” prosecutors wrote in a July 22, 2019 memo.
“SLED did previously conduct an investigation involving Billy McLean Head, III which was closed on 7/30/2019 after receiving notice on 7/22/2019 from the 14th Circuit Solicitors Office declining prosecution,” SLED said in an emailed statement.
Three weeks ago, Head III shot Patricia to death on their way home from a Mexican restaurant, according to the Colleton County Sheriff’s report.
He allegedly told the first responding officer, “She attacked me, and I had to shoot her. She’s dead in the truck,” the report said.
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‘SHOT IN THE BACK’
SLED’s incident report included statements from everyone involved in the 2018 confrontation at Tommie’s Auto & Diesel Repair & Towing in South Carolina.
After a customer refused to pay the service station’s cost for repairs to his trailer, tempers flared and the altercation turned violent.
The customer allegedly backed his truck into the trailer that the shop repaired and trapped the business owner between the two vehicles, the report said.
The customer grabbed a knife from his truck and threatened the owner with it, which was included in everyone’s statements to police and noted in SLED’s report.
The owner and Head III said the customer allegedly put the knife to the owner’s throat.
Head III told police he said, “Drop the knife or I’ll shoot,” and then he made good on his threat as he walked away, according SLED’s report.
Head III told police, the customer “was going to loose his s***” and then admitted to shooting him, the report said.
The customer who was shot told police that he backed off after Head III threatened him, according to the report.
He “backed up, turned around and that is when he was shot in the back,” the report said.
HEAD III CLAIMS SELF DEFENSE AGAIN
Head III again claimed self defense after shooting Patricia and told the first officer on scene that his girlfriend of a couple weeks threatened him with a knife and cut him, according to the Colleton County Sheriff’s report.
An officer noted in the report that Head III had a “superficial cut on his right forearm which moved diagonally from the inside of his arm wrist area to the outside of his elbow area approximately a foot in length.
“The cut was not actively bleeding upon assessment and there was a moist yet drying blood just in the area close to the wound.”
Head III told police that’s what Patricia allegedly did.
Head III’s six-year-old daughter witnessed the violence and told a different officer through tears, “Ms. Trish had a big knife and told my daddy she was going to stab him and he shot her,” the report said.
TRIBUTE TO ‘TRISH’ GROOMS
It’s still unclear what led up to the alleged violence on November 12.
As friends and family push for answers, they’ve have taken to Facebook to post tribute posts to the beloved mom of two, who was active on TikTok and Facebook.
In her last Facebook post, Patricia shared a message that said, “S/o (shout out) to suicidal people who stay alive strictly for the sake of others.
“I see you. You are important. You are loved. Thank you for being here despite your own feelings. I hope one day you want to be here just as much as everyone else wants you to.”
A coworker/friend told The Sun that she was funny because she always spoke her mind, which was evident in one of her final TikTok videos.
In the short clip, she addressed “all the people who don’t like me” by putting on her glasses as if she couldn’t see, and said, “It’s a b****.”
“In meeting her, you would quickly find out that she spoke her mind with no filter,” she said.
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