Arrests made after woman in car was killed, South Carolina police say
A South Carolina woman was killed in a weekend shooting, and after a search that led law enforcement to another county two men were charged with murder, according to the Sumter Police Department.
Arieyelle Coulette, a 27-year-old Sumter resident, is the woman who died after getting shot early Saturday morning, police said in a news release.
Coulette was in a vehicle when she was shot shortly after 2 a.m. Saturday, according to the release. The driver of that vehicle then took Coulette to Prisma Health Tuomey hospital where she died, police said.
No other injuries were reported, but officers first became involved at about 2:15 a.m., when they responded to reports of a Carolina Avenue home that was hit by gunfire, according to the release. It was minutes after that when officers learned about Coulette, police said.
After learning about the victim, officers determined that both calls were related and began when shots were fired from near a parked vehicle toward another vehicle that was passing, according to the release. Coulette, who was a passenger, and a nearby home were struck, police said.
Investigating officers eventually located the parked vehicle involved and two shooting suspects in Lee County, according to the release. Both 19-year-old Bishopville resident Elijah Handy and 28-year-old Dorein Antwon Vereen-Price, who has ties to Florence and Longs, were later placed in custody by officers and members of the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, police said.
Both Handy and Vereen-Price were each charged with murder and booked at the Sumter County Sheriff’s Department Detention Center, according to the release. Additional charges are pending.
Handy also was charged by the Lee County Sheriff’s Office with a weapons crime, police said. Bond for that charge was set at $5,000 but has not been posted, Lee County court records show.
Vereen-Price was arrested on a weapons charge in 2021 and pleaded guilty 2 years later, according to court records.
Police said they are working to determine if anyone else was involved in the weekend shooting, and a motive that led to the gunfire.
Anyone with information is asked to call police at 803-436-2700, and tips can be provided by calling Sumter Crime Stoppers at 803-436-2718 or submitted online.
In the case of an emergency, always call 911.
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