Newberry County deputies make third arrest made in Little Mountain homicide investigation

Newberry County deputies have charged a third suspect in connection with the shooting death of a 32-year-old Little Mountain man during a home invasion in late July.

Sheriff Lee Foster said 21-year-old DeCarlos Tramaine Satterwhite, of Columbia, was taken into custody Tuesday and charged with murder, three counts of attempted murder, four counts of armed robbery, first-degree burglary, two counts of kidnapping, criminal conspiracy and possession of a weapon during a violent crime.

Foster said Satterwhite was allegedly with three other men on July 29 when they approached 32-year-old Ronnion Danyell Byron’s home located in the 1000 block of Ponderosa Lane in Little Mountain, close to the Lexington County line.

According to previous police reports, Byron and another person were inside of the home when they heard a knock at the door. When Byron pulled back the curtain from the door’s window, a suspect shot him through the glass. The second occupant then hid between a mattress and a wall in another part of the home. The victim later told investigators he could hear the suspects break in and ransack the home.

Foster said when Satterwhite and the other suspects fled the home, two other people were approached the residence after a trip to Chapin. The four suspects blocked the victims on Ponderosa Lane and shot at them with a handgun and what was described as a “long gun.” The victims were able to flee the area unharmed.

Newberry County deputies were then dispatched to the residence at 12:15 a.m. in reference to a home invasion, and when they arrived they found Byron dead from a single gunshot wound to the head, Foster said.

Further investigation into the home invasion revealed Jermaz James Dreher, 16, of Chapin, and 21-year-old Tyler Mckenzie Ellkins, of Columbia, were also connected to the home invasion, Foster said.

Both have been charged with murder, criminal conspiracy, four counts of armed robbery, four counts of kidnapping, three counts of attempted murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime, according to Foster. Dreher, he said, is to be charged as an adult.

A fourth suspect, identified as 21-year-old Keon Omari Kelly by the Richland County Coroner’s Office, allegedly killed himself after a standoff with Richland County sheriff’s deputies on Aug. 7.

Sheriff’s Department spokesman Lt. Curtis Wilson said at the time that Kelly barricaded himself inside of a residence in the 1200 block of Cactus Avenue off Broad River Road, holding his brother hostage.

After letting his brother leave the residence, investigators continued to make attempts to negotiate with Kelly, Wilson said, but when deputies entered the residence they found him with a single self-sustained gunshot wound to the head.

“It was the invaluable assistance and partnership of the Newberry County Sheriff’s Office, along with the SC Law Enforcement Division, the Richland County Sheriff’s Department, the Columbia Police Department and the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department that has ensured the execution of superb investigative work,” Foster said in a statement following Satterwhite’s arrest.

This story was originally published August 26, 2015 at 8:39 AM.