Attorneys for the family of Stephen Smith, a 19-year-old who was found dead on a backcountry road in Hampton, South Carolina, in July 2015, announced that authorities now believe he was murdered. Despite the medical examiner concluding that Smith died from a hit-and-run, Smith's family lawyers said during a Tuesday phone call about the investigation that South Carolina Law Enforcement Division is now considering Smith's death a homicide. Attorneys Eric Bland and Ronnie Richter, who are representing Smith's family, said that they have a chance to right eight years of wrongs, and authorities' new conclusion has given the family hope. Smith's mother, Sandy Smith, expressed her joy at the latest development, adding that she knew in her "heart" that the initial findings into Smith's death were not accurate. The investigation could also include an exhumation and an independent autopsy.