1 charged with murder, others sought in shooting deaths of 3 Aiken, SC teenagers
An 18-year-old Aiken man has been charged with murder in connection with the Sunday shooting deaths of three teenagers.
The Aiken County Sheriff’s Office said it also is looking for two other suspects, including one juvenile, in connection with the case.
Law enforcement responded about 1:30 p.m. Sunday to a home on Wadley Drive in Aiken, where Aiken County Coroner Darryl Ables said deputies found three male teenagers on the ground suffering from gunshot wounds.
Two of the teenagers — Willie L. Garrett IV, 17, and Ivan Perry, 16 — were pronounced dead at the scene, Ables said. The third teenager, 16-year-old Cameron Carroll, was pronounced dead at Augusta University Medical Center.
Witnesses told police all three victims were in an argument with three male suspects, and, after the shooting, the unidentified suspects drove away in a four-door black Hyundai Elantra or Sonata, the sheriff’s office said. The car was last spotted turning on Edgefield Highway, according to the sheriff’s office.
On Monday, the sheriff’s office said investigators arrested 18-year-old Xabian Bailey, of Aiken, late Sunday. He was taken to the Aiken County Detention Center. He’s expected to be charged with three counts of murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime, according to the sheriff’s office.
The sheriff’s office said it is looking for two additional suspects — Alvin Artis IV, 20, and a 15-year-old juvenile — who are both expected to be charged.
“This needless loss of life has created a void in families and a community that will have lasting effects. The quick arrest of Bailey is the result of intelligence gathering by investigators of all disciplines which include the newly assigned gang investigators,” Aiken County Sheriff Michael Hunt said. “There is no doubt that this senseless violence is the result of gang members who have no regard for the sanctity of life.”
Autopsies are scheduled Wednesday in Newberry.
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call the sheriff’s office at 803-648-6811 or Midlands Crime Stoppers.
