Authorities identify victim killed at Rock Hill apartment complex, two charged

ROCK HILL, S.C. — The person killed at a Rock Hill apartment complex over the weekend has been identified as a 26-year-old, according to the coroner.

Police said Sunday two men are facing murder and drug charges after a shooting at the apartment complex on Saturday night. Rock Hill police said they responded around 11:30 p.m. to reports of shots fired at The Estates apartments in the 2400 block of Celanese Road.

On arrival, police said they found a person later identified as Deshawn Barnes, 26, unresponsive and suffering from a gunshot wound. Barnes was pronounced dead at the scene.

After an investigation, Rock Hill police said detectives identified and arrested four suspects involved in the case.

Two Rock Hill men, Jaelon Devon Kelly, 21, and James Bernard Williams II, 19, were charged with murder, possession of a weapon during a crime of violence, conspiracy to violate South Carolina’s drug law and first degree possession of marijuana, police said.

Two juvenile females were also charged with conspiracy to violate South Carolina’s drug law.

Kelly and Williams will be in Rock Hill Municipal Court for a bond hearing on Monday.

Neighbors said Barnes was a man who lived in the apartment complex with his mother.

Channel 9 reporter Glenn Counts spoke with one neighbor who said she is a friend of Barnes’ family.

“Just here in the last year we have experienced problems, and it’s more so the young. My heart goes out. And my heart is deeply felt because I’m a mother myself, and I couldn’t ever imagine having to go through anything like this,” the neighbor said.

Back in September, police said they responded to a deadly shootout at the same complex.

In that incident, police said 27-year-old Rayquan Steele shot and killed the boyfriend of the mother of his child.

“Well, it feels unsafe now. Two people died in the past year. Gunshots both times. That kind of makes me wonder how safe is this place,” resident David Lannone said.

David Lannone and his wife Trina said they moved in a couple of years ago.

The couple said they are glad that police have already made several arrests in connection with this case, however they still feel uneasy.

“Very worried. Considering I’m here sometimes by myself and yeah, it’s really uneasy,” Trina Lannone said. “It’s troubling cause you always got to be paying attention, you got to watch your back, your front, side everything.”

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