Advocates for a Greenwood, SC, mother of five are pushing the South Carolina Department of Corrections to grant her parole or a full pardon in the 2017 stabbing death of her boyfriend.
Tiffany Janae Carroll, now 36, pleaded “guilty but mentally ill” to voluntary manslaughter in December 2019 for the death of her then-boyfriend William Jamal Johnson. According to an article by Seanna Adcox in the Charleston Post and Courier, Caroll was a victim of domestic violence and police had been summoned to their home multiple times in the months leading up to Johnson’s death.
Carroll was reportedly preparing to leave the relationship in September 2017 when Johnson blocked her way out of the house. It was then that she stabbed him, but then rendered first aid as she called 911 and waited on help to arrive.
Johnson succumbed to his injuries and Carroll was initially charged with murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime, but pleaded guilty to the lesser manslaughter charge in 2019. She was sentenced to 15 years in prison with the possibility of parole after serving 25 percent — three years and nine months — due to the circumstances of the abuse.
Carroll appeared before the parole board last fall but her request was denied, according to the Post and Courier. She is scheduled for another parole hearing in September, but State Representative John McCravy III has joined a new call to completely pardon Carroll.
He told WYFF in Greenville that he had submitted an entire binder of supporting documentation to South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole, and Pardon Services that denotes Carroll’s diagnosis with Battered Woman Syndrome and PTSD.
As for Carroll, she has a clean prison record with no disciplinary infractions and has worked various jobs during her entire incarceration. She has also earned two certificates and appears to have another in progress. Carroll has reportedly undergone counseling and anger management classes to help heal from her ordeal.
Carroll’s case stands in stark contrast to the Jeroid Price matter where he was freed just 19 years into a 35-year murder conviction in a secret deal struck between his attorney, Rep. Todd Rutherford, and the retiring fifth circuit judge, L. Casey Manning.
Price’s case was a gang-related murder at a Columbia nightclub, not a domestic violence situation. Price took his case to a weeklong trial and was found guilty after just 30 minutes of jury deliberation; Carroll pleaded guilty to her charges. Price’s disciplinary record for his time in prison spans more than 100 pages of documentation about swearing at guards, possessing contraband, and engaging in gang-related activity. Carroll’s record indicates that she is working on healing herself so she can care for her children once she is released.
The LUNASHARK team will continue to monitor Carroll’s case and report new updates as they come.
If you or someone you love is dealing with any kind of abuse from a domestic partner, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1.800.799.SAFE or text START to 88788 for help. You can also reach an advocate via live chat at the hotline’s website. If you need to exit the hotline’s website, click the red “X” in the upper-right corner or “Escape” button on your keyboard twice at any time to leave TheHotline.org immediately.
Contact Beth Braden
Beth Braden
Beth Braden is an award-winning investigative journalist who cut her reporting teeth in the hills and hollows of East Tennessee. She joined the LUNASHARK® Media team in 2023 as a researcher and journalist who handles FOIA requests, wading through and analyzing public records, and connecting with sources. She also provides a monthly update for premium members called Soundbites, which is a monthly review of everything happening at LUNASHARK®, and she occasionally writes and records for True Sunlight. Beth has her own solo podcast called Time of Death, which explores the 1992 homicide of Tommy Griffin and Connie Branam in East Tennessee.
Prior to joining the team, Beth’s newspaper work had taken her into deep-dive stories about faith-based serpent handling and Appalachian coal mining, as well as data journalism work to analyze euthanasia drug irregularities at an animal shelter, uncover the most dangerous intersections on her beat, and see whether or not the local judge’s rulings passed muster when cases were appealed to the state appellate court. And of course, she’s been to her fair share of court hearings, city council meetings, and board of education work sessions.
In addition to her newspaper experience, her byline appears on HGTV.com, nytimes.com, and other internationally known websites.
In her spare time, she enjoys quilting, rock climbing, strange museums, and good cups of coffee.
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