High school football star arrested in Rock Hill mob beating, kicking door, cops say

A high school football star from Rock Hill has been arrested for being part of a group that beat and stomped a teen twice, police said.

Jamario Dawun Holley, 18, is charged with two counts of assault and battery by a mob with bodily injury and malicious injury to property, said Capt. Mark Bollinger of the Rock Hill Police Department.

Holley had been a major college wide receiver prospect since his freshman season at Northwestern High School.

He was identified as one of a group of four to six people people who punched and kicked a teen victim at Spencer Park in Rock Hill on Sunday afternoon, during a basketball game, according to Bollinger and a police incident report.

“Holley and the others stomped on his face,” the report states.

Police said that Holley and others then followed the victim home.

Outside the house, Holley and others beat up the victim again, the victim and other witnesses told police. When the victim went inside and locked the door, Holley damaged the door, police said.

“Holley kicked the front door several times, making a hole in the bottom of the door,” the police report states.

The victim identified Holley by name on the incident report, but did not identify any of the others involved.

The victim is a 17-year-old male, police said. The Herald is not identifying the victim.

No one else has been charged in the case, but the investigation is ongoing, Bollinger said.

Assault by mob is defined under South Carolina law as “the assemblage of two or more persons, without color or authority of law, for the premeditated purpose and with the premeditated intent of committing an act of violence upon the person of another.”

Third-degree assault by mob is described under state law as “any act of violence inflicted by a mob upon the body of another person, which results in bodily injury to the person, shall constitute the misdemeanor crime of assault and battery by mob in the third degree.”

A conviction carries up to one year in prison per charge.

All three charges are misdemeanors, South Carolina law shows.

Holley was arrested Wednesday and released from the Rock Hill jail after posting $4,000 bond on the two assault and battery charges, police said.

Holley is a student at Northwestern High School, said Mychal Frost, communications director for the Rock Hill school district.

The incident Sunday did not happen on campus, and has no connection to the school, said Bollinger and Frost.

Holley, a receiver, scored five touchdowns in one playoff game for Northwestern in 2018.

He was named a Parade All-American as a high school freshman at Northwestern four years ago, and his flashes of ability and speed over the ensuing three years earned him a scholarship to the University of South Carolina.

Holley committed to USC to play football in early 2018. That scholarship offer was rescinded by the school in December, The State reported.

Holley was also chosen to play in the 2018 Shrine Bowl football game involving all-star players from both South Carolina and North Carolina, but did not play in the game.

This story was originally published January 17, 2019 at 2:18 PM with the headline "High school football star arrested in Rock Hill mob beating, kicking door, cops say."