Man arrested in Columbia apartment shooting case that left 3 dead, deputies say
A Columbia man was charged with murder Tuesday after three were killed last month in shootings at an apartment complex just off of Bush River Road, according to a statement from the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department.
Jeremy Savoy Cornish, 38, was the second suspect charged in the case, and is facing three charges of murder and one count of burglary for the shooting at Woodland Village, according to the statement.
A little more than a week ago, officials also arrested Justin Tyler Ellaree Hopkins in connection with the case. Hopkins, 21, was charged with three counts of murder, unlawful carrying of a pistol, first-degree burglary and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime.
Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon said Cornish had long been a suspect in the case.
“Witnesses told detectives early on they’d seen Hopkins running away from the scene and getting into a truck matching the description of one Cornish admitted he driving the day of the incident,” Koon said, according to the statement.
Deputies also gathered evidence that they say links Cornish and Hopkins to the car leaving the scene and the location of the shooting, according to the statement.
The three men who died in the shootings were Branton T. Booker, 28; Sheldon D. Livingston, 26; and Duwan E. Williams, 27, who died at an area hospital. A fourth man was able to escape the apartment and call 911.
Cornish was arrested by members of the U.S. Marshals Service’s fugitive task force. He is being held in the Lexington County Detention Center.
