Woman arrested after racial slur at Sam’s Club led to assault, SC sheriff says
A Sam’s Club store in South Carolina became a crime scene Saturday after one woman assaulted another customer, according to the Richland County Sheriff’s Department.
Four days after the attack, a woman was arrested, the sheriff’s department said Wednesday.
The incident happened at the wholesale membership store at 733 Fashion Drive, the sheriff’s department said Sunday in a news release. That’s in the northeast part of Columbia which is densely packed with retail stores and restaurants in the Village at Sandhill shopping center.
At about 1:30 p.m. Saturday, deputies responded to a reported assault that happened at that Sam’s Club, according to the release.
At the store, deputies spoke with a woman they called the victim. She told them that she was the target of a racial slur from another woman while both were waiting in line, the sheriff’s department said.
Information about the specific nature of the racial slur was not available, and there was no word about a motive for making the hostile and derogatory comment.
The victim told deputies that the racial slur resulted in the two women getting involved in a verbal dispute, according to the release.
The victim then told deputies that she was trying to take a picture of the woman who made the racial slur when that woman punched the victim in the face, the sheriff’s department said. This caused a physical fight to occur between the two at the Sam’s Club, according to the release.
No injuries were reported.
The woman accused of making the racial slur left the Sam’s Club before deputies arrived, the sheriff’s department said.
Investigators were able to view surveillance footage from Sam’s Club of the incident and determine that 42-year-old Ashley Murff was the primary aggressor, according to the sheriff’s department.
After Murff was identified, an arrest warrant was issued and at about 9:30 a.m. Wednesday she was charged with third-degree assault and battery, the sheriff’s department said.
Murff was booked into the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center where she is being held while waiting for a bond hearing, jail records show.
If convicted on the misdemeanor charge, Murff faces a maximum punishment of 30 days in jail and a $500 fine, according to South Carolina law.
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This story was originally published February 15, 2026 at 3:38 PM with the headline "Woman arrested after racial slur at Sam’s Club led to assault, SC sheriff says."
