Stepmother Megan Turner granted $50K surety bond weeks after cold case arrest

BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C. (WCBD) – A woman accused in the 1989 death of a 5-year-old Berkeley County boy was granted a $50,000 surety bond on Wednesday afternoon.

Megan R. Turner has been housed at a Berkeley County jail after being arrested in the Upstate last month, accused in the disappearance and death of Justin Lee Turner.

Turner, who was the boy’s stepmother, appeared in a Berkeley County circuit court where she was granted bond. She is not allowed to leave the state and must surrender her passport.

The judge did not feel that Turner was a flight risk or a danger to the community.

Megan Turner, known then as Pamela Turner, and the boy’s father, Victor, told law enforcement the child had gone missing after leaving for school on the morning of March 3, 1989. After a two-day search, Justin Lee Turner’s body was found by his father inside a camper at the family’s home.

Using new technology, and even old news video from WCBD, detectives were able to launch a new investigation into Turner’s disappearance and death – leading them to the boy’s parents, both of whom are now charged with his murder.

“We know for a fact that Justin was strangled to death. There were ligature marks on his neck. We recovered what we believe to be evidence of the murder. We have a lot of forensic evidence. We got here because of new technology and forensic medicine,” said Berkeley County Sheriff Duane Lewis during a January 10 press conference.

The Turners were arrested at their home in Cross Hill, South Carolina – about three hours away – by Berkeley County detectives with help from the Laurens County Sheriff’s Office and brought back to the Lowcountry.

Sheriff Lewis said that the video indicates Victor knew where Justin was located because he went straight to him, calling it a key piece in the overall investigation. “You have to make that determination for yourself. But that is what it appears to us,” he said.

An affidavit shows Victor found Turner’s body “within seconds” of entering the camper during search efforts the morning of March 5, 1989.

Victor’s attorneys say he is expected to attend a bond hearing soon.