Gunfire complaints from neighbors on Charity Lane in West Columbia led Lexington County deputies to a home where they say they found methamphetamine and ammunition belonging to a man barred from possessing firearms because of a decades-old manslaughter conviction. Christina Hope Anderson, 52, and Anthony Ray Miles, 54, were arrested last week and have since been released on bond.
Neighbors' Complaints Trigger Deputy Response
According to the Lexington County Sheriff's Department, deputies responded to a home in the 500 block of Charity Lane after authorities received calls and complaints about gunfire at the residence. Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon said deputies spoke with both Anderson and Miles at the home, and during that conversation Miles admitted to firing shots a few days earlier, according to the sheriff's account. Miles reportedly told deputies himself that he was prohibited from possessing a firearm because of a prior criminal conviction.
That admission gave deputies reason to dig further, and they say they confirmed Miles had previously served time in prison. Federal court records show Miles was indicted in Lexington County in 1998 on murder and burglary charges before pleading guilty in May 2001 to voluntary manslaughter and second-degree burglary, for which he received a 30-year state prison sentence, according to federal court dockets.
Search Warrant Turns Up Meth and Ammunition
Armed with that information, deputies obtained a search warrant for the home Miles shared with Anderson. The search turned up methamphetamine and ammunition, Koon said. Both residents were then arrested and taken to the Lexington County Detention Center on Gibson Road, where arrestees are booked before appearing before a magistrate judge for bond, per the sheriff's office's description of standard intake procedure.
Anderson was charged with distribution of methamphetamine, second offense. Under South Carolina Code Section 44-53-375(B), distribution or possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine as a second offense is a felony punishable by 5 to 30 years in prison and fines up to $50,000, according to Kent Collins Law. Separately, South Carolina drug enforcement statutes set possession of 1 gram or more of methamphetamine as a threshold that can allow law enforcement to charge distribution or intent to distribute, per the Shealey Law Firm.
Felon-in-Possession Charge Carries Its Own Exposure
Miles was charged with possession of a firearm or ammunition by a person convicted of certain crimes, a first offense. South Carolina Code Section 16-23-500, updated under the state's 2024 Constitutional Carry legislation known as H. 3594, prohibits anyone convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year in prison from possessing firearms or ammunition, with a first offense punishable by up to 5 years in prison, according to the South Carolina Legislature. The same code section mandates that any firearm or ammunition illegally possessed outside municipal boundaries be confiscated by the county sheriff's department for agency use, inter-agency transfer, or authorized trade.
Both Anderson and Miles were released from the detention center after meeting the conditions of their bond set by a magistrate judge. The 500 block of Charity Lane sits in unincorporated Lexington County within Lexington School District One, a pocket of single-family and mobile home lots that falls under sheriff's office jurisdiction rather than municipal police, according to area property records.
Part of a Broader Pattern of Gunfire Calls
The Charity Lane case is not an isolated incident for deputies working the area. Lexington County deputies investigated another residential gunfire call in West Columbia on Shadowfield Drive in September 2026, which resulted in a suspect exchanging gunfire with law enforcement officers, according to the sheriff's office. The Lexington County Sheriff's Department provides primary law enforcement coverage across a 699-square-mile county serving more than 309,000 residents outside incorporated municipal boundaries, per the South Carolina Sheriffs' Association.
Sheriff Jay Koon has led the department since winning a 2015 special election and was named the 2023 South Carolina Sheriff of the Year by the South Carolina Sheriffs' Association, according to the South Carolina Legislature. The exact quantity of methamphetamine recovered from the Charity Lane home has not been disclosed, and it remains unclear whether additional firearm charges could follow if the weapon used in the reported target shooting is recovered.
