A 3-year-old was killed and South Carolina man is charged with murder, cops say
A toddler was killed over the weekend and a South Carolina man has been charged with murder, according to the Florence County Sheriff’s Office.
The Florence County Coroner’s Office said 3-year-old Antonio Kamani Burgess II is the child who died in Saturday’s shooting, WPDE reported.
Kenneth Washington Jr., a 36-year-old Hemingway resident, was charged with murder following the 3-year-old’s death, the sheriff’s office said Wednesday. Washington was arrested Tuesday and booked into the Florence County Detention Center, where he remains locked up as no bond has been set, jail records show.
The shooting happened Saturday night, according to the sheriff’s office. At about 9:25 p.m., deputies responded to the Johnsonville Rescue Squad when they learned a gunshot victim — Antonio — had been brought to the fire station after a shooting in the 900 block of Midway Highway, the sheriff’s office said.
Washington drove another person — later identified as Joseph Waterman Jr. — to the location and was present during the deadly shooting, according to the sheriff’s office.
The sheriff’s office said that Waterman was the boyfriend of Antonio’s mother, and he got out of the vehicle driven by Washington then confronted and assaulted both the mother and the person driving the car she was in that had stopped, WMBF reported. The sheriff’s office continued, saying when Waterman hit the driver with a gun, the weapon fired and Antonio, who was in the backseat, was shot in the head, according to WMBF.
Information on the condition of the surviving victims was not available.
Washington provided aid and assistance to the boyfriend when he then drove away with the gunman, the sheriff’s office said. Washington also made no effort to contact law enforcement or render aid to the victim, according to the sheriff’s office.
While Washington has been taken into custody, a search for Waterman is ongoing. Waterman is wanted on a murder charge and is considered armed and dangerous, the sheriff’s office said.
Following a bond hearing, Washington is scheduled to return to court on Nov. 19, Florence County judicial records show.
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call the sheriff’s office at 843-665-2121, CrimeStoppers at 888-CRIME-SC or submit an online tip.
In the case of an emergency, always call 911.
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This story was originally published September 17, 2025 at 1:37 PM with the headline "A 3-year-old was killed and South Carolina man is charged with murder, cops say."
