On October 16, 2022, 15-year-old Tavarus Rhashad Pinckney was killed by a single gunshot off Lady’s Bank Drive in Ridgeland, South Carolina. He was at home with his older brother, Kylen Pinckney, examining a firearm that had been used earlier on a hunting trip when the weapon discharged. Emergency crews took Tavarus to Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah, where he died that night; the Jasper County Coroner pronounced him dead at 8:45 p.m.

Jasper County investigators initially treated the shooting as accidental but later arrested 28-year-old Kylen Pinckney. Authorities say Kylen stole the gun from a car down the street, had been pointing it at people, and was told to put it down; the shot that struck Tavarus was fired as Kylen was lowering the weapon. Kylen was charged with involuntary manslaughter, breaking into a motor vehicle, and possession of a weapon by a convicted felon.

Does anyone from Ridgeland or the family’s community have additional details about what happened that evening?