Four teens charged with murder after shooting in Richland County, SC cops say
Four teenagers were arrested on murder charges following a shooting in South Carolina over the weekend, according to the Richland County Sheriff’s Department.
At about 7 p.m. on June 8, deputies responded to a report of a shooting near the area of Percival Road and Quail Run Lane, the sheriff’s department said Monday in a news release. That’s in Columbia, near Exit 12 on Interstate 77.
Before they arrived, deputies were told that a vehicle had crashed into a wall in the same area that the gunshot was heard, according to the release. Deputies then found a silver Toyota that was involved in a collision, and the male driver — who was still in the vehicle — was dead, the sheriff’s department said.
The driver had been shot, according to the release.
Jayson R. Cooke, a 17-year-old Columbia resident, was identified as the homicide victim, Richland County Coroner Naida Rutherford said Tuesday.
No other injuries were reported.
The crash occurred as a result of the vehicle’s brakes disengaging when Cooke was shot, the sheriff’s department said.
Deputies learned that four people left the area where the Toyota crashed when the gunshot was fired, according to the release. The sheriff’s department said it then called K-9 units to the location and they tracked to a mobile home park in the 700 block of Percival Road. That’s about half a mile from where the Toyota was discovered.
Members of the sheriff’s department’s Special Response Team responded to the trailer and called multiple times for the occupants to come out before the four shooting suspects surrendered without further incident, according to the release.
Makenzie Shine, 19, Sa’riya Green, 18, Elon Williams, 17, and a 15-year-old — whose name was not made public because of their age — were arrested, the sheriff’s department said. In addition to murder, Williams and the 15-year-old were also charged with possession of a weapon during a violent crime, according to the release.
The shooting was the result of a drug deal gone bad, the sheriff’s department said.
Shine, Green and Williams were taken to the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center, according to the release. No bond has been set for any of the three, and all of them remain behind bars, jail records show.
The 15-year-old was taken to a South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice facility, the sheriff’s department said.
Despite the arrests, both the sheriff’s department and coroner’s office said they’re continuing to investigate the shooting.
Green was supposed to be wearing an ankle monitor Sunday, when the fatal shooting occurred, according to the release. In February, Green was charged with tampering with electronic monitoring device, the sheriff’s department said. The Percival Road resident was booked at the jail before posting a $10,000 bond, Richland County court records show.
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This story was originally published June 10, 2025 at 8:09 AM.
