‘Conspiracy to execute’: Third suspect, 17, charged in Rock Hill double-murder ambush
A third suspect has been charged with double murder in what Rock Hill authorities say was a planned execution ambush because one of the victims “snitched” to police.
John’Quavious La’Quan Kelly, 17, was served arrest warrants Friday for two counts of murder, said Lt. Michael Chavis of the Rock Hill Police Department. Kelly is the third teen charged in the Jan. 23 shooting deaths of Zyon Minton, 17, and Digarian Foster, 18.
Kelly was already in custody of the S.C. Department of Juvenile Justice on an unrelated matter when he was charged in the killings, Chavis said.
Despite Kelly being 17 years old, he was charged as an adult and will be prosecuted as an adult, Chavis said.
Rock Hill City Judge Jane Modla denied bond for Kelly in a court hearing Friday afternoon where police said Kelly was “dangerous.”
Police in court asked Modla to keep Kelly in jail to send a message to the community that the violence associated with the case is unacceptable to the community.
Police say victim targeted after “snitching”
The other defendants in the case — Jon’Tarius Delmone Reid and Kelvin Barnette Jr., both 18 — were charged Wednesday with two counts of murder each in the deaths of Minton and Foster, according to police and court records.
In court hearings Friday for Kelly and Wednesday for Reid and Barnette, Rock Hill police Detective Robert Smith said Foster and Minton were shot several times each in an ambush in a yard on Byars Street. Foster and Minton were outside Foster’s home Jan. 23 warming themselves by a bonfire when they were attacked, Smith said in court.
The suspects had been friends with the victims, Smith said. The suspects apparently targeted Foster after Foster had talked to police in May 2020 in an ongoing investigation, Smith said in court.
“The defendants were involved in a conspiracy to execute them at close range,” Smith said in court Wednesday. “They (victims) were ambushed and killed in cold blood. No arguments, no fighting.”
Smith told the judge that Foster was “honest with law enforcement” in the previous case from May 2020. “Foster was labeled a snitch because of that incident, because Mr. Foster had broken the code of silence,” Smith said in court.
The suspects found out about Foster’s cooperation with police, and that’s why he was target, Smith said in court. There is a saying on the streets that “snitches get stitches,” because of threats and acts of violence against people who stand up and talk to police, Smith said.
Minton remained friends with Foster even after some labeled Foster a snitch, Smith said in court.
Minton had worked on school work just hours before he died in an attempt to graduate from high school, Smith said.
Victims’ families upset, want justice
Clayton Adams, Foster’s grandfather, said in court Wednesday he and his grandson knew the suspects for years. The suspects were supposed to be friends with Foster, Adams said.
“These guys have come to my house with him ever since they was young,” Adams said in court. “It hurt me to my heart because I know these guys. That they would do this to my grandson. You see that in the movies. ... God forgive me, but I cannot forgive and I will not forgive.”
Keia Gordon, mother of the other victim, Zyon Minton, said in court her life and her son’s life were destroyed. Gordon said she will not rest until there is justice for her son.
“The question I have today is why?” Gordon said in court. “I want justice. ... Something so small, so petty. My child was going to graduate across that stage.”
What happens next?
Reid and Barnette, because they are 18, faces 60 years to life in prison if convicted but could face a potential death penalty trial because there were two victims in the case, state law shows. Murder cases that have multiple victims are considered “aggravating factors” that allow prosecutors to potentially seek capital punishment.
Kelly, the third suspect charged Friday, could face 60 years up to life in prison if convicted of two counts of murder under South Carolina law. South Carolina law does not allow prosecutors to seek the death penalty for defendants 17 or younger.
All three suspects each face additional charges of conspiracy to commit murder and possession of a firearm during a violent crime from the killings, police and court documents show. Those conspiracy and weapons charges carry as much as 25 years in prison for convictions in addition to the two counts of murder each defendant faces, state law shows.
All three suspects remain in jail without bail pending trial.
