Columbia woman who died in domestic violence shooting named by Richland County coroner

A woman was killed Sunday in what the Richland County Sheriff’s Department called a domestic violence homicide.

Hours later, a man involved in the shooting died, according to the sheriff’s department.

Deputies responded at 6 p.m. to an apartment complex in the 700 block of Mallet Hill Road, where they found the deceased woman’s body lying outside of an apartment building, the department said late Sunday night. She had been shot multiple times, according to the sheriff’s department.

On Wednesday, Wynter N. Straw, a 25-year-old Columbia resident, was identified as the homicide victim by the Richland County Coroner’s Office.

Renardo S. Johnson, a 27-year-old Pelion resident, was the man who was involved in the shooting, Coroner Naida Rutherford said.

Johnson, barricaded himself inside the apartment, leading to an hours long standoff with the sheriff’s department and other first responders. The apartment complex is in Columbia, near Sesquicentennial State Park.

At 7:05 p.m. Sunday, the sheriff’s department issued an “urgent” alert for a “high priority crisis situation,” asking the public to avoid the area.

The sheriff’s department said negotiators spoke to the man, who they said was believed to be armed, for nearly three hours.

Initially, deputies said they believed a child was inside with Johnson, but later confirmed a child was never involved in the standoff.

At about 9 p.m., the sheriff’s department said Johnson stopped responding to negotiators and, minutes after, the department said deputies heard a gunshot from inside the apartment. When they entered the unit, deputies found the man with a gunshot wound to the upper body, the department said.

The suspect was taken by EMS to a local hospital for treatment. He died overnight, the sheriff’s department told The State Monday.

The coroner’s office did not say if Johnson’s death was self inflicted, but the sheriff’s department told The State Monday that there is no investigation into another possible shooter.

The sheriff’s department said it’s learned that Johnson and Straw had a romantic relationship, but information about what led to the gunfire was not available.

“This is another sad example of how violent and deadly a domestic situation can be,” Sheriff Leon Lott said in a statement Sunday night. “This will impact two families, many friends and a community deeply.”

Forty-nine people in South Carolina were murdered by a household member in 2021, the last year for publicly available data, according to the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office 2022 report. Of those killed, 37 were women — 76% of the total — and 12 were men.

Guns were the primary weapon used, the report said.

This story was originally published March 26, 2023 at 7:23 PM.

Maayan Schechter

The State

Maayan Schechter (My-yahn Schek-ter) is the senior editor of The State’s politics and government team. She has covered the S.C. State House and politics for The State since 2017. She grew up in Atlanta, Ga. and graduated from the University of North Carolina-Asheville in 2013. She previously worked at the Aiken Standard and the Greenville News. She has won reporting awards in South Carolina. Support my work with a digital subscription

Noah Feit

The State

803-771-8435

Noah Feit is a Real Time reporter with The State focused on breaking news, public safety and trending news. The award-winning journalist has worked for multiple newspapers since starting his career in 1999. Support my work with a digital subscription