Rock Hill boy, 16, had prior gun charge before arrest in on-camera store murder
A 16-year-old accused killer in a caught-on-camera shooting outside a Rock Hill store had pending gun charges at the time of the killing, prosecutors said.
Officials want to prosecute him as an adult for murder after the victim was shot at least twice in the head July 7 while sitting in a car sprayed with gunfire.
It is illegal for anyone under 18 to have a handgun in South Carolina.
The 16-year-old had his first hearing Tuesday in York County Family Court after his arrest in the death of Jy Querious Catoe, 19, of Rock Hill. Authorities allege Catoe and a second person who survived were shot at by the 16-year-old and A’montae Kevion Markise White, 19.
The 16-year-old has been in a S.C. Department of Juvenile Justice jail since Rock Hill police arrested him the day after the killing. He faces murder, attempted murder, and several weapons charges.
He said nothing in court and showed no emotion after he was led in from a holding cell by deputies, and prosecutors said he was a killer.
If tried as an adult, punishment would be far more severe than if the case stays in juvenile court. Adult punishment for a murder conviction carries a minimum of 30 years prison, while any juvenile court conviction ends at age 22.
The Herald — the only media organization in court Tuesday — is not identifying the 16-year-old because of his age.
Surveillance camera captured the gunfire
The shooting happened outside Adam’s Grocery on Wilson Street in Rock Hill near downtown before 10 p.m. on July 7. The other victim fired at — whom officials still have not identified — fled the store as the 16-year-old and the other suspect fired at him, police allege. The suspects allegedly fired at the car as the second victim tried to get in, with bullets hitting Catoe in the passenger seat, according to police.
The suspects then ran before police arrested the younger suspect the next day. White turned himself in hours afterward.
In a previous court hearing for the other suspect, Rock Hill Police Department Detective Dustin Ochiltree said the entire shooting was on store video.
“The footage was shocking, the suspects’ acts were deliberate, calculated and merciless,” Ochiltree said previously.
Ochiltree was in court Tuesday but was not asked to again state the probable cause.
No motive for the shooting or relationship between the accused killers and the victims have been released.
Defense: Child’s brain is not developed
State law requires juveniles have periodic detention hearings when jailed.
Prosecutor Whitney Payne told visiting Family Court Judge Thomas Hodges of Greenville the 16-year-old has a pending charge of gun possession from 2024 and should face adult trial for the murder and other new charges.
Defense lawyers Stacey Coleman and Lisa Collins from the 16th Circuit Public Defender’s Office chose Tuesday not to fight keeping the 16-year-old in jail — or even that police had probable cause to arrest him.
However, Coleman told Judge Hodges her office will fight any attempt to prosecute as an adult. She argued a child’s brain is not fully developed and the law “requires us to view children different from adults.”
Families sit apart in court
Family members of Catoe and the other victim sat silently on one side of the courtroom Tuesday. They chose not to speak in court as the boy accused of the violent attack sat just feet away.
Hodges told them Tuesday’s hearing was a not a trial and under the law, the 16-year-old has a “presumption of innocence.”
“Regardless of that I know you are in pain,” Hodges told the victims’ families.
The accused killer’s grandmother was on the other side of the courtroom Tuesday but did not speak other than to tell Judge Hodges she was there on behalf of her grandson.
What happens now?
The 16-year-old will stay in jail until the court system decides if he will face adult or juvenile trial. That decision could take months or even years.
In South Carolina, prosecutors can attempt to “waive up” a child to adult court for serious violent offenses such as murder. It includes evaluations by state juvenile justice officials and more hearings in court. A child can only be tried as an adult after a Family Court Judge reviews the evaluation and orders an adult trial.
White, the 19-year-old co-defendant accused in the shooting, remains at the York County jail without bail. No trial date has been set for him, either.
This story was originally published July 23, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
