Inset left: Megan Bodiford (GoFundMe). Inset right: Jarrett Davis (Bamberg County Sheriff's Office). Background: The location where the burned car containing Bodiford's remains was found (WIS/YouTube).
A South Carolina man has admitted to murdering his girlfriend and setting a car ablaze with her body inside, according to court records.
Jarrett Haskell Davis, 28, pleaded guilty Monday to murder, possession of a weapon during a violent crime, third-degree arson, and desecration of human remains. He was sentenced to 43 years in prison for the murder charge, plus additional time for other offenses, according to online court records viewed by Law&Crime.
Davis killed his girlfriend, Megan Bodiford, 25, on or around April 25, when she disappeared from Denmark, South Carolina, about 60 miles south of Columbia. Bodiford sent a chilling text message to a friend before going missing, saying: "If you don't hear from me in 30 minutes, he killed me," according to FITSNews.
"He has a gun," Bodiford also said.
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Bodiford had a 4-month-old baby at the time and was dealing with domestic issues in her relationship with Davis, according to friends and family. "She reached out for help," said Bodiford's cousin, Stephanie Nickens, in an interview with local NBC and CW affiliate WIS after Davis' arrest.
The Bamberg County Sheriff's Office said Davis was taken into custody after authorities found a burned-out car with human remains that were later identified as Bodiford about 2 miles from her home.
"It's gut-wrenching because he did not have to do all of that at all," Nickens told the station about the way Bodiford was found and her last plea for help. "I keep having this thought in my mind of how fearful she was in that moment," the cousin said.
Bodiford's family told WIS after Davis' arrest that they were upset with cops because Davis had a domestic violence arrest warrant at the time.
"If he would have been locked up the way that he was supposed to be the first time, maybe he wouldn't have even gotten a chance to get this far with her," Nickens said.
Bodiford was a mother to three daughters, ages 7, 4 and 4 months, according to a GoFundMe page.
"I want everyone to focus on what a beautiful soul she had, just a wonderful mother that she was," Nickens told WIS. "She loved being around people. If you look on her social media, you see so many friends coming together and posting memories that they have of them with her."
David Harris contributed to this report.