After teen was killed in shooting, a man is convicted of murder, SC official says
A man was sentenced to life in a South Carolina prison following a recent conviction on multiple charges, including murder, following the death of a teenager, according to the 5th Circuit Solicitor’s Office.
On April 22, a Kershaw County jury also found Troy Eugene Keitt Jr., guilty of two counts of attempted murder as well as possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime, the solicitor’s office said Wednesday in a news release.
In addition to the life sentence, Judge Chris Taylor also sentenced Keitt to another 65 years in a South Carolina Department of Corrections prison. The 25-year-old was admitted to Kirkland Reception and Evaluation Center in Columbia on April 23, prison records show.
Keitt’s conviction stems from a 2022 shooting where 17-year-old Justice Rutherford died, according to the release.
In the early morning hours of July 17, 2022, Keitt and three other people followed the victims’ car on U.S. 1, near the intersection with Watts Hill Road, the solicitor’s office said. That’s in the Elgin area of Kershaw County, not far from Interstate 20.
Ti’yon Akeem Harriot and Deshon Jakeef Kirkland were previously identified as two of the other people in the car with Keitt, and both face pending murder and attempted murder (two counts) charges connected to the 2022 shooting, records show.
Keitt’s vehicle pulled alongside the victims’ car, and Keitt fired multiple rounds into it in an unprovoked attack, according to the release. Rutherford was shot in the neck and died, the solicitor’s office said.
The shooting was originally investigated as a road rage incident but was ultimately determined to be a targeted killing, the Kershaw County Sheriff’s Office said in 2022.
Despite the intent, Rutherford is not believed to have been the shooters’ actual target, according to the sheriff’s office.
A witness testified that Keitt and the others in his vehicle continued down U.S. 1 for some distance before returning to the scene, the solicitor’s office said in the release. The witness said Keitt and those with him realized they had “hit someone” as they neared and chose to drive away rather than fire on the victims again, according to the release.
There was no word on a motive for the shooting, or who the sheriff’s office believes was the intended target.
Along with the Rutherford, who died at the scene, two other people were found inside a white Dodge Dart by deputies — including a juvenile female who was hospitalized after being shot in the leg, the sheriff’s office said.
Current information on her condition was not available. No other injuries were reported.
Witness testimony and forensic evidence showed that Keitt and the three others attempted to hide or destroy evidence the day after the shooting, the solicitor’s office said.
The Kershaw County Sheriff’s Office led the investigation.
Assistant Solicitor Michael Bradbury and Deputy Solicitor Curtis Pauling prosecuted the case for the solicitor’s office. Attorney Tivis Sutherland IV was listed as Keitt’s lawyer, Kershaw County court records show.
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