3 family members charged in killing of 17-year-old Richland County basketball player
A mother and two daughters have been charged in the May 10 shooting death of a Lower Richland High School basketball player.
The three were arrested Friday. Two weeks earlier, the mother's son also was charged in the death of 17-year-old Amon Rice, authorities said.
The Richland County Sheriff’s Department Fugitive Team and U.S. Marshals arrested 40-year-old Winyah Nynete Gaither, 25-year-old Kieauna Shykeria Davenport, and 18-year-old Kerria Darnashia Davenport, the sheriff's department announced Tuesday.
Gaither was charged with murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime, the sheriff's department said. Kieauna Davenport and Kerria Davenport were arrested on accessory charges.
All three were arrested at their home in the 200 block of Greenlake Drive, the sheriff's department said. Gaither is being held at the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center without bond. Kieauna Davenport and Kerria Davenport have been released on bond, according to jail records.
Deputies previously arrested 21-year-old Shytori Nikia Davenport on May 16 and charged him with murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime in Rice's slaying. He is the son of Gaither and brother of the two Davenport sisters.
The May 10 shooting followed a dispute at Lower Richland High School between Kerria and friends of Rice, which led to a confrontation near the Davenport’s family home. What was supposed to be a fist fight ended with shots fired and Rice dead from a bullet to the head.
“They’re still portraying this like my sister [Gaither] went out looking for a fight when these groups of people came to their [the Davenport and Gaither] home,” Toinette Davenport, aunt to the two sisters and Shytori, said Tuesday.
Just after Shytori’s arrest, Gaither and her two daughters spoke with the media outside Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center and defended their son and brother, saying the police were singling him out because of a prior arrest record and an assault and battery conviction.
“There were 58 shots fired, and they only arrest one shooter,” Gaither said at the time. Investigators have not said how many shots were fired.
“How you see all them shells but you saying only one person shot [Rice]?” Kieauna Davenport said.
Except for a handful of misdemeanor charges, Winyah Gaither has no prior criminal record in South Carolina, according to State Law Enforcement Division records. Kieauna Davenport and Kerria Davenport have no prior records, according to SLED.
Murder carries up to life in prison, under South Carolina law. Possession of a weapon during a violent crime carries up to five years.
This story was originally published May 29, 2018 at 1:55 PM with the headline "3 family members charged in killing of 17-year-old Richland County basketball player."