Columbia police make arrest in Friday night neighborhood shooting
A person is dead and another jailed after a Friday night shooting near the Melrose Heights and Lyon Street communities of Columbia.
The Richland County Coroner’s Office identified the victim as Darrious Jerome Davis.
The Columbia Police Department charged 53-year-old Richard Julius with murder and two gun offenses.
Friday at about 10:30 p.m., two acquaintances were arguing on the 1200 block of King Street, which is off Millwood Avenue. The department didn’t specify if it was Davis and Julius who argued or what the argument was about. But sometime after the confrontation, Julius shot Davis, police said.
The department said officers picked up the gunshots through ShotSpotter, an acoustic technology that alerts police when a gun is fired.
Police found Davis lying outside a house shot in the upper body, according to authorities.
Officer arrested Julius sometime before midnight and jailed him at Alvin S. Glenn detention center. Julius was still jailed as of Saturday afternoon awaiting a bond hearing.
Julius has previous criminal charges, the department said. Court records show he pleaded guilty to assault and battery in 2016 and 2018.
Murder is punishable by 30 years to life imprisonment.