SC prosecutors want juvenile Rock Hill girl tried as adult in shooting where 3 died
A 16-year-old Rock Hill girl, who police claim drove others to a “hit” where three South Carolina teens were killed, will remain in jail, and prosecutors will seek to try her as an adult.
Additionally, police and prosecutors said for the first time publicly that authorities are seeking at least one other suspect in the case, and there is some surveillance video of what they describe as a shootout.
The girl is one of two teens charged with murder. She is charged in connection with the death of one of the three juveniles killed in the April 25 shootout on Gist Road in Rock Hill.
The girl made her first appearance in York County Family Court Tuesday for a detention and probable cause hearing. She has been in a S.C. Department of Juvenile Justice jail since her April 28 arrest.
The Herald is not naming the defendant because of her age.
Prosecutors want to try the girl as an adult
Prosecutors are seeking to have the girl’s case moved from Family Court, where potential punishment for murder would end at age 21, to adult court where she could face up to life in prison if convicted, court records and testimony showed.
Sixteenth Circuit Assistant Solicitor Whitney Payne told Family Court Judge Thomas White that the girl has turned 17 since her arrest, and would have been charged as an adult if she had been 17 at the time.
No date has been set for any other hearings where prosecutors would argue that the girl should face adult prosecution. A Family Court Judge must agree that the girl can be tried as an adult before the case can be moved.
The accused girl did not speak in court.
The father of the accused girl did speak in court Tuesday. He said he was terribly sorry for the victims and their families.
The father also called the violence among young people an epidemic.
“This is a problematic epidemic for our youth,” the father said. “I hope lives can be turned around and lives can be saved.”
The shootout
Those who died in the shooting incident are Kam’ran Brevard, 16, and Evanta Hart, 17, both of Rock Hill, according to court testimony and York County Coroner Sabrina Gast. Omarian Small, 16, of Lake Wylie, also was killed, the coroner said.
The day after the killings, Ahmik Coleman, 17, of Rock Hill, was charged as an adult with two counts of murder in connection with the deaths of Hart and Brevard, according to arrest warrants obtained by The Herald from the Rock Hill Police Department.
Coleman was wounded amid the shooting.
The girl is charged, in connection with Small’s death, with driving Brevard, Hart and an unidentified third male to the shooting site, testimony from prosecutors and police revealed Tuesday.
Police have said in court and in written statements that Coleman and Small were in a parked car together. Small was found dead in the driver’s seat. Coleman, who was seated in the front passenger seat, was wounded and fired back at Brevard and Hart, who had shot at him and others in the car. Brevard and Hart were wounded, police have said in a written statement.
Coleman fled the scene but returned and is charged with fatally shooting Brevard and Hart, police said in court and written statements.
A third teen in the back seat of the car with Coleman and Small ran from the shooting scene, police said. Neither the third teen in that car, nor the male who allegedly was with the girl, Hart and Brevard, has been identified.
A sister of Small spoke in court Tuesday. She said Small was innocent in the violence.
“He was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” the sister said.
Police say the girl knew a ‘hit’ was happening
Rock Hill Police Detective Tayler Tucker said in court Tuesday that there was an ongoing dispute at the time of the incident. The accused girl drove Brevard, Hart and the unidentified male to Gist Road where she knew others involved the dispute would be, Tucker said.
“She knowingly participated in a hit that ended with the death of three juveniles,” Tucker said. “She participated by driving them, and then lied afterward.”
Tucker said the accused girl and another female exchanged text messages the day of the shooting.
In response to questions in court from Creighton Hayes, the girl’s lawyer, Tucker said the other female was involved in a relationship with one of the victims.
Tucker also said under cross-examination from Hayes that police have surveillance video from the Gist Road neighborhood that was obtained by law enforcement.
“There is video evidence of the crime,” Tucker said.
The video was not played in court and has not been publicly released.
Judge: “Epidemic of senseless violence”
Tuesday’s hearing was to determine whether police had probable cause to arrest the girl charge with murder, and whether the girl would be released on bond, pending trial.
White, of Union, S.C., said he was disturbed by the violence of the case, and the alleged organized scheme that brought teen shooters to confront other teens.
“I am continually frustrated by what appears to be an epidemic of senseless violence,” White said.
White also said it appears there was a “communal effort” to make the violence happen.
White ruled that testimony showed police clearly had probable cause to arrest the girl.
“And there is probable cause she had prior knowledge of a potential violent incident,” White said.
Hayes argued that the girl should be released on bond. The girl has been assaulted in juvenile jail and would be safer at home pending trial, Hayes said.
Hayes made no comment about prosecutors seeking to try the girl as an adult.
Payne said the girl should remain in custody for the safety of the public and the girl herself. Another suspect who was with the accused girl remains uncaught, Payne said.
“Police are seeking another individual who was her co-defendant in all of this,” Payne said. “A lot of people will be unsafe if she is released.”
White ruled that the accused girl will remain in a S.C. Department of Juvenile Justice jail until a hearing is held on whether the case is moved to adult court.
This story was originally published May 17, 2022 at 2:38 PM.
