2 charged, one with murder, in fatal shooting of South Pointe student, 17

A 17-year-old South Pointe High School student was killed and a woman injured Sunday in a Rock Hill shooting that police say started with a Facebook feud.

Police and neighbors said the incident, that initially involved a Facebook feud between two women, started in or near Arcade-Victoria Park. A stray bullet went through a wall of a woman’s home on Sunset Drive during the gunfire, one resident said.

The deceased teen has been identified as Quantavious Torbit, the York County Coroner’s Office announced Monday. He was a rising senior at South Pointe High School, and had played on the basketball team.

Two people were arrested Monday in connection to the shooting that left Torbit dead, according to the Rock Hill police department.

Demetric Leon Houze, 25, of Rock Hill has been charged with murder, police say. A bond hearing for Houze is tentatively scheduled for 8 a.m. Tuesday at the Rock Hill Municipal Court.

Timothy M. Holley, 20, is charged with discharging a firearm in city limits and unlawful carrying of a weapon, police said.

More charges may be pending, and the shooting is still under investigation, police said.

This was the first of two shootings in Rock Hill Sunday night, but police said Monday they do not believe the cases are related.

Police have not identified the 20-year-old woman they say was hit by a “stray bullet.”

There was a large crowd for what began as a fight between two young women at or near the park; young men tried to break up the fight and the shooting started, said Capt. Mark Bollinger, spokesman for the Rock Hill Police Department.

Melvin Watson, head basketball coach at South Pointe High School, said Monday he was “shocked that ‘Quan’ Torbit would be gone before his senior year in high school.”

Watson said he is “at a loss for words” to describe the loss of Torbit, called “Quan” by his friends and coaches, at such a young age.

Torbit played for Watson and displayed positive attributes of student-athletes, including a dedication to academics before sports, Watson said. Torbit did not complain about playing time on the court and was a team-before-self young man, Watson said.

“I can’t believe we are talking about this young man in the past tense,” Watson said. “He worked hard last year, not just to become a better player, but to improve as a person.”

Assistant South Pointe basketball coach Pat Burris also was “stunned” at the loss of Torbit, saying that he was a good teammate and a good kid.

Watson said Torbit spoke to him during the last week of the school year, and told Watson that he was focusing his summer efforts on academics and would not be attending any summer basketball workouts.

“He was a good kid, and we are going to miss him,” Watson said.

The shooting happened in the 200 block of Sunset Drive. A resident told The Herald that her home was hit by a bullet that went through the wall of her house.

A child was inside the house when the bullet tore through the wall, she said.

“The bullet went in through the wall of the house, and then through a wall in the kitchen,” said Glenda Hope, who lives at the corner of Rauch Street, in the 200 block of Sunset Drive.

“It all came after there was a lot of commotion in the park. It is so sad, a bunch of foolishness and a 17-year-old is dead,” she said.

Hope said forensic officers and detectives were at her home into the night Sunday, investigating how her home was hit.

Police confirmed in a written statement Monday that a woman, 20, was hit and injured by a “stray bullet” in the gunfire on Sunset Drive.

Several neighbors told The Herald that the incident started at the park on Roddey Street, around the block from where the house was hit by gunfire.

Groups of young people were arguing and the incident escalated into gunshots, neighbors and police said.

Police were seen looking for bullet casings and other evidence in the park through the night Sunday and into Monday.

Several neighbors reported hearing multiple shots, including one woman who lives next door to the park.

“It happened right here, and then the police were here blocking off the whole place,” said the woman, who said she did not want her name used because she feared for her safety.

Another person, whose home faces the park, said he heard multiple gunshots after the argument in the park.

Officers were told a crowd gathered at Piedmont Medical Center, where the gunshot victim who died was taken, and that the hospital was put on lockdown, Bollinger said Sunday night.

However, Rock Hill police did not place the hospital on lockdown, Bollinger said.

A PMC hospital spokesperson referred a question for information on the lockdown back to Rock Hill police.

A second shooting on Walnut Street in Rock Hill around 10:30 p.m. Sunday left a man, 20, in critical condition in a Charlotte hospital, police said, but the shootings are not considered to be related.

Check back for updates.

This story was originally published June 25, 2017 at 9:39 PM with the headline "2 charged, one with murder, in fatal shooting of South Pointe student, 17."