Main: David Hutchinson (GoFundMe). Inset: Jaida M. Braddy (Marion County Sheriff's Office).
A 41-year-old woman in South Carolina has been arrested in connection with the death of a 32-year-old Massachusetts man who had been missing for nearly a month before his body was found decomposing in a curbside trash can last week.
Jaida Monique Braddy was taken into custody late last month and charged with one count of accessory after the fact to a felony or murder in the slaying of David Hutchinson.
Hutchinson was initially reported missing by family members in Massachusetts on Jan. 12, according to Florence, South Carolina, CBS affiliate WBTW. His family told authorities he had traveled to Marion, South Carolina, by bus in December 2025 and was supposed to be back the first week of January. However, the family told authorities they had not heard from him since Dec. 29, 2025.
His body was discovered stuffed in a trash can that had been wheeled in front of an abandoned home on Pearl Street in Marion on the afternoon of Jan. 29.
While authorities have not revealed how Hutchinson died, police confirmed that his death is being investigated as a homicide. The results of an autopsy scheduled to be conducted this week should reveal his manner and cause of death.
Marion Police Chief Tony Flowers said evidence currently indicates that Hutchinson was shot in the area earlier in January.
"January 12th, we received a tip of a possible homicide that occurred over in this area, a residence," Flowers told Myrtle Beach NBC affiliate WMBF. "We've had no reports of any gunshot fires or anything out of the ordinary in this area during that time frame. Our investigators did a report and started kind of following up on it. We were really getting nothing on it, and they started digging a little more, and we started getting leads on the person who is now deceased, Mr. David Hutchinson."
The chief said a second tip came in that ultimately led to authorities locating Hutchinson's body.
At this point, Braddy is accused of moving the trash can in front of the abandoned home where it was later discovered, the Telegram & Gazette reported. It was not immediately clear if she was also suspected of being involved in his death.
While authorities have been tight-lipped about the details in the case, Hutchinson's family provided additional details about what may have happened in his final days on a GoFundMe page created by his older sister.
The page states that Hutchinson, a barber by trade, was "lured" to South Carolina with the "promise of making money" by a woman "who claimed to be an entrepreneur." However, when he arrived, he "quickly figured out it was all a set up," she wrote.
"After being taken for his money, he was dropped off at trap house where his phone was also stolen," the GoFundMe page says. "In the time leading up to his disappearance there was an altercation with his barbering equipment being stolen as well. When Dave confronted the individual(s) he thought took his belongings, he was met with violence and a gun was pulled. Later that same day he vanished without a trace. His belongings remained where he left them but there was no sign of [Hutchinson]."
Hutchinson's brother told WBTW that his brother's life should be about more than simply the way he died.
"[He was] naive and too trusting, but a good kid who made bad decisions at times, and this time he sadly had to pay the ultimate price for it," Hutchinson's brother told the station. "The news headlines all flashing 'man found in trash decomposing' are extremely upsetting for us. I know it's captivating, but he was a lot more than that."
Braddy currently remains in the Marion County Detention Center on a $15,000 bond.