South Carolina Woman Sentenced to 50 Years for Stabbing Pregnant Teen 50 Times

Jacqueline Reid, 64, was sentenced to 50 years in prison for the 2024 murder of 17-year-old Maylashia Hogg and her unborn child in Barnwell County, SC.

Barnwell County Woman Gets 50-Year Sentence for Killing Pregnant Teen, Leaving Bodies in Ditch

A 64-year-old South Carolina woman will likely spend the rest of her life in prison after a judge sentenced her to 50 years for stabbing a pregnant 17-year-old to death and dumping her body — along with that of the unborn child — in a ditch behind her own home.

Barnwell County Circuit Judge Walton J. McLeod handed down the sentence Thursday against Jacqueline Y. Reid following her guilty plea to one count of murder and one count of causing the death of an unborn child in utero during the commission of a violent crime, court records show. As Law & Crime has reported, the killing took place on Feb. 8, 2024.

The victim, Maylashia Hogg, was 40 weeks pregnant at the time of her disappearance — just days before her scheduled Feb. 14 induction date. Surveillance footage showed Hogg leaving her boyfriend's home and walking through a park toward her own house. She never arrived.

Her family grew alarmed in the days that followed. Hogg missed a prenatal appointment and failed to show up at the hospital to be induced on Valentine's Day. Repeated attempts to reach her went unanswered.

The break in the case came when investigators traced Hogg's AirPods to Reid's home. A search of the surrounding area led police to a ditch behind the property, where they recovered the bodies of Hogg and her unborn child. Prosecutors said Hogg had been stabbed 50 times, with wounds to her head, neck, back and stomach, Court TV reported. The fetus also sustained multiple fatal stab wounds.

Forensic evidence further implicated Reid. DNA matching Hogg was found in three locations inside the house, despite Reid's claim to investigators that Hogg had never entered her home. When police first visited the property, they observed several rugs drying on the porch that carried a strong smell of bleach.

Reid had sought hospital treatment on the same day Hogg disappeared, after nearly severing the pinkie finger on her right hand. During a subsequent jail call with her boyfriend, she attributed the injury to cutting chicken. Her boyfriend noted the inconsistency: she held a knife in her left hand, making it difficult to explain a wound to her right.

Reid also told her boyfriend she no longer wanted to remain alone at home. At one point she referenced buzzards in the area, suggesting "something must be dead out there," according to prosecutors.

Despite the volume of circumstantial and forensic evidence, prosecutors acknowledged at a 2026 bond hearing that a clear motive was never established.

"We have no idea why," Solicitor Leigh Staggs said. "But we know that this poor 17-year-old girl and her baby ended up in a ditch right behind the defendant's home for several weeks before she was located."

Staggs noted that Reid had been known to spend time at the home where Hogg lived with her grandfather and uncle following the death of her mother, and that the two had an "ongoing beef." The precise nature of the dispute was not detailed in court filings.

Hogg's family addressed the court before sentencing. Her stepfather, Michael Sapp, became emotional while recounting how he had directly asked Reid whether she had seen Hogg during the frantic search for the missing teenager.

"I just can't believe that she actually did this," Sapp said.

Source: Law & Crime