Man charged with murder after woman was shot outside Bojangles restaurant, SC police say
Nearly a week after a woman was killed in a shooting outside of a fast food restaurant in a popular dining and shopping district a man was arrested on multiple charges, according to the Columbia Police Department.
Ja’Quivian A. Kennerly, 23, was charged with murder, two counts of attempted murder, possession of a weapon during a violent crime and discharging a firearm into an occupied vehicle following the Nov. 14 shooting at the Bojangles restaurant at 151 Harbison Boulevard, police said Wednesday in a news release.
On Nov. 15, police identified Kennerly as the gunman wanted in connection to the shooting. Kennerly surrendered to police Wednesday morning, according to the release.
Antoinette Michelle Hammonds-Colon, a 40-year-old Columbia resident, was shot in the upper body and taken to an area hospital where she later died, according to Lexington County Coroner Margaret Fisher.
Kennerly is accused of shooting at a vehicle multiple times on Nov. 14, according to the release. He was trying to “physically harm two passengers,” police said.
Instead, the gunfire struck Hammonds-Colon who was standing in the parking lot, according to the release.
No one else was injured, police said.
Officers believe the shooting stemmed from a prior dispute between Kennerly and the occupants of the vehicle, according to the release. Information about the dispute was not available.
The U.S. Marshal Service’s Carolinas Regional Task Force aided police in the investigation.
Information about Kennerly’s bond status was not immediately available.
Following the gunfire, the Bojangles parking lot was blocked off, and the 100 block of Harbison Boulevard was temporarily closed, according to police.
More than 30,000 cars per day travel down Harbison Boulevard, according to South Carolina Department of Transportation traffic data.
A public viewing for Hammonds-Colon will be held from 3-6 p.m. Friday at Columbia’s Bostick-Tompkins Funeral Home, and a funeral service will follow Saturday at 4 p.m. at The Life Church on Wilson Boulevard in Columbia, according to the funeral home.
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This story was originally published November 20, 2024 at 1:49 PM.
