A South Carolina man has been charged with murder in connection with the killing of his girlfriend. His previous girlfriend went missing two years ago, authorities said.
A South Carolina man is behind bars and facing murder charges after the badly beaten body of his girlfriend was found next to the body of their newborn son, authorities said.
Tyler Wilkins, 21, is being held without bail after being charged with one count each of kidnapping, murder and child neglect, in connection with the deaths of his girlfriend Clarrissa Winchester and their infant, according to court records. His previous girlfriend, Jorden Nebling, was reported missing in 2020 and hasn't been seen or heard from since, her family said.
Investigators are trying to determine if the two cases are related, according to the Greenville County Sheriff's Office. No person of interest has been named in Nebling's disappearance.
Wilkins was arrested last Wednesday by Greenville Sheriff's deputies. Clarrissa's father, Michael Winchester, phoned authorities after he went looking for his pregnant daughter and found Wilkins at the home of a relative, he said. Wilkins came to the door, and then closed it in the dad's face, he told WGHP-TV.
"I could tell right away that something was wrong. He went back inside his home. Shut his door and we immediately called the police, and they came right out, and everything started unfolding," the father said. "Little did we know she was in the home. He beat her to death without mercy.”
An autopsy determined Clarrissa died from blunt force trauma to the head and neck, according to authorities. The circumstances of the newborn's death were not released. Additional charges will likely be filed after the infant's autopsy is completed, the sheriff's office said.
Wilkins was out on $4,000 bail from a previous incident in which he allegedly shot at Clarrissa and Michael Winchester, narrowly missing them, authorities said. Wilkins was charged with several counts, including attempted murder, domestic violence, assault and threatening and spitting on a law enforcement officer, according to authorities and court records.
He has pleaded not guilty to those charges.
There is no attorney of record listed for Wilkins in online court records for his most recent arrest. A request for comment from Inside Edition Digital to Wilkins' attorney in the attempted murder case was not answered.
In 2020, when Jorden Nebling disappeared, the last person to see her alive was Wilkins, according to the woman's stepmother, Mary Tucker.
Nebling had borrowed a friend's car and when it broke down, she called Wilkins to come and get her, Tucker told Inside Edition Digital this week.
When she had been missing for several days, Tucker said she contacted Wilkins. "He told me that he picked her up, they went back to his place and they got in an argument and she took off walking from his house," Tucker said.
Tucker has been closely monitoring Nebling's case over the past two years and is in constant touch with investigators, she said. When she heard news reports of a woman's body being found last week, she immediately thought it was her stepdaughter's, she said.
Tucker had temporary custody of Nebling when she was a child, the woman said. Nebling eventually went into foster care and was adopted at age 12, Tucker said. "She had a very, very tough life," Tucker said.
After leaving her adoptive parents at age 17, Nebling started living with Wilkins, Tucker said, and described their relationship as "volatile and violent."
The young woman would leave, "but she always went back," Tucker said. She had been living with her biological mother when she disappeared, Tucker said. "She had just gotten a job."
She described her stepdaughter as a smart and strong-willed person who was charming. "She was the kind of people that everybody liked," Tucker said.
"My son is 11 years old and that's his sister," Tucker said. "She may not have a traditional family, but she has a family that loves her and misses her."
