SC state rep. reacts to seeing son’s accused killer in court

ROCK HILL, SC — It was the moment Brandon Guffey waited more than two years for, looking into the eyes of the man who allegedly drove his son to take his own life.

“Seeing him for the first time, that anger that I felt, you can’t explain,” said Guffey.

Gavin Guffey was 17 when he allegedly met Hassanbunhussein Lawal. Investigators says Lawal was pretending to be a young woman. Guffey, a South Carolina state representative, said the two started messaging on Instagram at midnight on July 27th, 2022. One hour and 40 minutes later, Gavin was dead.

“He jumped off playing video games with friends, and by 1:40 a.m., he had taken his life,” Guffey explained.

Kevin Wheeler with the FBI in Columbia explained most sextortion schemes start through video games, social media or dating apps.

“Once they gain a minor’s trust, that’s really when they start asking for explicit images and videos. And in some cases, they might provide one themselves that may not actually be them,” said Wheeler.

After a years long investigation, Lawal was found and extradited to the US from Lagos, Nigeria.

“I would say the vast amount of these sextortion cases are coming out of Lagos, Nigeria,” Guffey said.

Gavin’s Law was passed in South Carolina in 2023 making sextortion of a minor a felony. Guffey explained the point of the law was to allow law enforcement to go after criminals across state lines.

“To be able to track some of these people instead of just saying, our hands are tied,” said Guffey.

Lawal is facing life in prison if convicted on child exploitation resulting in death. Guffey tells me he’s not sure if a conviction will be enough for his family to find peace but he knows there’s still work to be done.

“I’m grateful of keeping Gavin’s memory alive, but my mission in life is to protect other kids,” explained Guffey.