Man charged with fatally shooting relative at Columbia graduation party

A man has been charged with fatally shooting a relative at a weekend graduation party at a Columbia home, according to police.

Christopher Jamaal Jones, 26, was charged with murder and placed in the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center, according to the Columbia Police Department. He is accused of fatally shooting 31-year-old Jarritt Demonteze Rodgers during an argument at a graduation celebration Saturday night.

Columbia police say the shooting happened around 9 p.m. at a home on the 2100 block of Apple Valley Road, just off Broad River Road.

It remained unclear Sunday whether Jones and Rodgers were immediate or extended family members.

Sunday afternoon, two balloons – a blue star and a purple and yellow flower – were outside the home where the shooting happened.

People inside the home declined to speak with a reporter.

Tonna Robertson, 36, who lives across the street, said she came outside Saturday night after hearing screaming and hollering. She said she is certified in CPR and wanted to see if she could help.

“He was laying on the ground and bleeding pretty bad,” she said of Rodgers, who was in the front yard of the home. “They were just kind of consoling him and (said), ‘Someone get something and apply pressure.’”

Another neighbor Audrey Smith, 53, placed the balloons outside the house.

Smith heard the gunshot Saturday night and at first thought it was firecrackers.

“By the time I opened my door, I didn’t see nothing but police,” she said.

She said family cookouts and get-togethers are weekly events at the home.

“They keep the cookout going down there all the time,” she said.

Rodgers died during surgery after being shot in the neck and upper body, Richland County Coroner Gary Watts said Sunday.

An investigation is continuing.

This story was originally published June 4, 2017 at 12:27 PM with the headline "Man charged with fatally shooting relative at Columbia graduation party."