NEWBERRY COUNTY – A 16-year-old from Chapin and a man from Columbia have been charged with the home invasion murder of a Little Mountain man last week.
Another suspect reportedly killed himself following a standoff with police in Richland County.
Jermaz James Dreher, 16, of 520 Westwoods Drive in Chapin, was charged Wednesday as an adult and Tyler Mckenzie Elkins, 21, 1609 Saint Michaels Road in Columbia, was charged Thursday.
Both have been charged with four counts of murder, conspiracy, armed robbery and kidnapping, three counts of attempted murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime, according to the Newberry County Sheriff’s Office.
The murder charge must be arraigned by a Circuit Court judge. A bond hearing date had not been set Thursday night.
Dreher is being held in a juvenile detention facility and Elkins is being held in the Newberry County Detention Center.
Ronnion Danyell Barron, 32, of Ponderosa Lane in Little Mountain, was shot and killed July 29 after someone knocked on the door of his mobile home shortly after midnight.
When Barron pulled back a curtain over the door’s window, he was shot through the glass. A second resident ran to the back of the mobile home and hid between a mattress and the wall. That resident reported hearing more gunshots and the home being ransacked.
As the four suspects were leaving the mobile home, they encountered two people approaching the mobile home. The two managed to escape in their vehicle while being shot at and fled to a home nearby.
The four suspects then left the area and fled toward Lexington County in a dark colored four-door vehicle.
Investigators said information from the public and tireless investigative efforts led to the identification of the suspects.
One suspect, who has not been identified, reportedly committed suicide Thursday by shooting himself in the head after deputies tried to serve a warrant for his arrest in northwest Richland County.
Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said the man held his brother hostage and refused to come outside. The man cut off negotiations after releasing his brother.