Man arrested in Jerk Hut shooting booked into jail, SC records show

A suspect in the Jerk Hut shooting has been arrested and booked into Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center on Tuesday morning, Richland County records show.

Azavius Jones, 24, faces charges of one count of murder, five counts of attempted murder, shooting into an occupied structure, possession of a weapon during a violent crime and possession of a weapon by convicted felon. According to court records, Jones is scheduled for a bond hearing Tuesday afternoon.

Ty’shon Vogt, a 25-year-old Irmo man, and seven others were injured in the June 14 shooting at the restaurant on Zimalcrest Drive off Broad River Road.

The Jerk Hut was declared a public nuisance and permanently closed, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott announced at a June 18 press briefing. Lott then hung a large gold chain over the Jerk Hut door to mark the closing.

Lott also said the department believed the Jerk Hut had the same owner as Relapse Bar and Grill, a club that had operated without a business license and with an expired alcohol license before its own permanent closure following a May 10 police shooting.

Lott invoked the concept of “blood money” after both incidents, harshly criticizing the owner and the circumstances he felt had led to each shooting incident..

“This is a place where people die,” Lott said. “If we don’t do something about it more people are dying, so we’re doing something about it.”

Jones had previously pled guilty to unlawfully carrying a pistol in Richland County in 2021 and the unlawful sale or delivery of a pistol in Lexington County in 2022.