Florence County man sentenced to two life sentences in 2020 Valentine’s Day killing
FLORENCE COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) — 45-year-old Samuel Kennedy Funderburk, Jr. was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences Wednesday in the murder of 64-year-old Harold Timothy Morrison on Valentine’s Day in 2020, according to Twelfth Circuit Solicitor Ed Clements.
Clements said Funderburk was sentenced by South Carolina Circuit Judge H. Steven DeBerry IV.
Deputies responded to the 2400 block of Lindfield Circle near Effingham on Feb. 14, 2020, and found Harold Timothy Morrison dead inside his home, the sheriff’s office said.
Investigators allege that Funderburk shot Morrison multiple times with a handgun after going into his home at night without permission.
Investigators also said Joseph Edward Foss, Jr. of Timmonsville accompanied Funderburk when the murder occurred and drove Funderburk’s vehicle from the scene.
Funderburk was charged with one count of murder and one count of first-degree burglary. He was taken into custody on February 22, 2020, in Milledgeville, Georgia, and was extradited to Florence County.
Foss was charged with murder and first-degree burglary and released on a $75,000 bond in 2021.
The son of Harold Timothy Morrison, Matthew Morrison, came to Florence from Pennsylvania to attend the trail.
“The family is very relieved that the judge sentenced him [Funderburk] as he did for such a brutal crime,” Morrison said. “Two consecutive life sentences will not bring Harold back, but it will hold the individual responsible. He was a navy veteran. A proud father and grandfather. He has not met two of his grandchildren and he won’t meet any future grandchildren or witness the growth of the family and that was taken by Samuel Funderburk.”
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Taylor Ford is a digital journalist for News13. She joined the News13 team in January 2023. Taylor is a Florence native and covers the Pee Dee out of News13’s Florence Bureau. Read more of Taylor’s work here.
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