Featured Image Credit: GoFundMe/Florence County Sheriff's Office
Topics: South Carolina, Gun Crime, Crime, US News
Liv Bridge
Topics: South Carolina, Gun Crime, Crime, US News
It is anticipated a 10th teen will surrender to police in an alleged 'murder plot' of a 16-year-old boy.
On June 24, Trey Dean Wright was gunned down in a remote area off a rural Florence County road in Johnsonville, South Carolina, in what murder investigators believe was a planned set-up.
The teen was allegedly brought to the area by his girlfriend, Gianna Kistenmacher, where he encountered a group and would end up seriously wounded.
As he lay dying, at least one of the teenagers gathered on the street apparently filmed him.
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Cops then descended on the scene at around 11.30pm where they found the victim 'laying in the roadway with multiple gunshot wounds.'
Devan Scott Raper, 19, has been accused of previously threatening the 16-year-old and of flashing a gun at him. The pair had apparently got into a heated exchange over a girl.
Raper was then filmed firing several rounds into Wright, who tragically died from his injuries the next day.
Cops arrested and charged the teen with murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime. Raper remains in jail without bond.
Now, eight other teens have been hit with various other charges for their role in allegedly helping to set up the homicide in the past few weeks.
Investigators allege the group of teens were aware of Wright's location and knew Raper was armed when they alerted him to his location.
According to News 13, a 10th suspect is also expected to turn themselves in soon.
The 10th teen comes as Florence County Sheriff's Office has confirmed the names of four others, including the victim's 17-year-old girlfriend, Kistenmacher, who has been charged with accessory before the fact.
Cops determined she likely knew Raper was armed and had instigated the conflict between him and Wright.
She has since been released on bond to home confinement.
Hunter Kendall and Corrine Belviso, both 18, and Sydney Kearns, 17, have also been arrested and charged though their parts of what they allegedly played in the murder is yet to be confirmed.
The other four have also been charged but as they are minors, their names have not been made public.
Florence County Sheriff’s Office Maj. Michael Nunn said the arrests have not come lightly for cops.
“The decision was made, again with investigators, in consultation with the solicitor’s office to charge each of them,” he told the outlet.
“The hand of one being the hand of all is part of South Carolina law as well, so that’s the basis of the charge for each of those individuals,” Nunn added.
He also said many of those who have been charged were 'complicit in bringing the armed codefendant, Raper to the incident location and knowing that there would be a confrontation'.
Sheriff TJ Joyle added: "This was an altercation between two people.
"It’s not like I’m just going to go to Johnsonville and shoot somebody. They had issues with each other and it was over a female. The sad thing is, you got a 16-year-old that lost his life. You’ve got a 19-year-old who is going to be in jail the rest of his life. Over what?"