6-year-old was killed in barrage of bullets, SC prosecutor says. Now two men go to prison
Years after a 6-year-old boy was killed in a shooting, two men are going to prison for the rest of their lives after pleading guilty to murder charges, according to the 1st Circuit Solicitor’s Office.
The solicitor’s office said that 21-year-old Ethan Thorne Anderson and 19-year-old Jerimiah J. Harley were convicted of the 2022 murder of Winston Hunter, who died inside his Midlands home.
Both Anderson and Harley pleaded guilty Tuesday, before a jury trial was scheduled to start in Orangeburg County, where the shooting happened, the solicitor’s office said in a news release. Each was sentenced to life in prison — without the possibility of parole.
The shooting
On May 13, 2022, Winston was inside his home on on McClain Street in the town of North with his family at about 11:35 p.m. when the occupants of a car fired into the residence, the Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office previously said.
The family had just returned from a gathering, and Winston was preparing for bed when a barrage of at least 21 bullets were fired into his home, the solicitor’s office said in the release. Winston was sitting on a couch in the living room when he was shot, according to the release.
His father and 12-year-old brother attempted to help him, but the 6-year-old died at the scene, the solicitor’s office said.
“Winston Hunter’s home was turned into a war zone” Solicitor David Pascoe said in the release.
The investigation
Surveillance footage showed a light-colored sedan turned onto McClain Street just before the shooting, and it left immediately after the gunfire, the solicitor’s office said. The sheriff’s office released the footage to the public and two weeks later received information from the Ontario County Sheriff’s Office in New York regarding the deadly shooting, according to the release.
This vehicle was stopped by law enforcement officers in New York, and it was discovered that Harley was driving the sedan, which was registered to Anderson — who lived in Gaston, South Carolina, the solicitor’s office said. At the same time of the traffic stop in New York, Orangeburg County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Anderson in Gaston, according to the release.
When he was taken into custody, Anderson confessed to firing into the residence and implicated Harley, the solicitor’s office said.
Orangeburg County deputies recovered three firearms believed to be used in the shooting, according to the release. The guns were sent to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, which “conclusively matched every fired shell casing found on scene,” the solicitor’s office said.
Additionally, law enforcement obtained a large number of text messages and social media evidence implicating both Anderson and Harley.
“All the evidence pointed to Harley orchestrating what transpired outside of Winston Hunter’s home,” Pascoe said.
What led to drive-by shooting?
There was no word on a motive for the drive-by shooting.
“Some individuals got together in West Columbia and decided to take a ride to North to make a buy or robbery for marijuana,” Orangeburg County Leroy Ravenell said when Anderson and Harley were arrested in 2022.
What Ravenell said was certain was that there were no drugs in Winston’s home. He died and his family was shot at by mistake, according to the sheriff.
There were no ties between any of the men facing charges in the shooting and Winston’s family, Ravenell said.
Sentencing
During sentencing, both of Winston’s parents, Courtney Hunter and Everett Colter, addressed the court. Courtney Hunter wanted the court to know “on May 13 my life turned upside down” and “every day I am working to make sure he wasn’t taken in vain.”
She described Winston as a “go-getter.”
Winston’s father said, “I knew the vision (Winston) had for himself,” and “it’s never going to be OK.”
Winston’s cousin Ashley Schofield told the court, “(Winston) was a light.”
At the conclusion of the sentencing phase of the plea, Pascoe said he contemplated playing the 911 call from the night of the shooting so the defendants could hear “the hell they caused that night and the pain they gave this family,” and so the court could hear “what the defendants celebrated that night.”
Judge Maite Murphy wanted to hear the call, and it was played for the court.
“Justice can never be done in this case because a 6-year-old child was taken from his family,” Pascoe said.
In addition to the solicitor’s office and the Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office, the North Police Department, SLED, and the Ontario County (NY) Sheriff’s Office assisted in the investigation.
Pascoe, Deputy Solicitor Tommy Scott and Assistant Solicitor Mark Hinds led the prosecution, according to the release.
Court records show that Lexington attorney Andrew Farley and Orangeburg lawyer Robert Mellard represented Harley and Anderson, respectively.
“I want to express my heartfelt condolences to the family of Winston. This is just a senseless tragedy that’s happening all too often in our community,” SLED Chief Mark Keel said in 2022.
A third man charged
Days after Anderson and Harley were taken into custody, a third person was arrested in connection to the deadly shooting.
On May 30, 2022, Michael Lloyd also was arrested in Ontario, New York, and was charged with murder and other crimes, the Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office said.
Orangeburg County court records show that the charges are still pending against Lloyd, who had a Columbia lawyer, Justin Kata, who was replaced with a new attorney, Spartanburg’s Monier Abusaft, appointed on April 12.
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