Columbia man charged with strangling his mother and dump her in North Edisto River in Lexington County

Lexington, SC 07/03/2024 - A Columbia man is accused of killing his mother last December.

Terry Lee Self Jr., 37, is charged with murder, according to an arrest warrant.

“A canoer found the body of the suspect’s mother in the Edisto River Dec. 3,” Lexington County Jay Koon said. “Detectives confirmed the suspect and his mother were at the suspect’s house and left there together after an argument.”

The victim was identified as Regina Arroyo, according to Lexington County Coroner Margaret Fisher.

“The evidence in the case indicates the suspect used a ligature to strangle Ms. Arroyo,” Koon said. “After he killed Ms. Arroyo, Self then dumped her body in the river and left.

“Detectives have been working on this case for seven months zeroing in on the person responsible Ms. Arroyo’s death,” Koon said. “We hope to give her family members and loved ones some sense of closure.”

Self is being held in Richland County at the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center on an unrelated charge. Lexington County investigators charged him Monday and brought him before a magistrate who denied him bond.