22-year-old admits killing SC mom in spree that sparked national outrage

A man on Friday admitted killing a South Carolina woman last year during a robbery attempt by a group of six teenagers and young men who authorities said were on a crime spree. He will spend the rest of his life in prison.

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Asael Aminadas Torres Chirinos, 22, avoided the possibility of a death penalty trial by pleading guilty to murder and other charges in the May 2, 2025, killing of Larisha Sharell Thompson in a case that sparked national outrage.

He has been jailed and under an Immigration and Customs Enforcement hold since his arrest days after Thompson’s body was found in her car. Authorities said he and the others are from Honduras and are not legal U.S. citizens.

Visiting Judge Misti Shelton sentenced Torres Chirinos in Lancaster County criminal court after prosecutors Randy Newman and Melissa McGinnis and Torres’ lawyer Ben Hasty agreed to the negotiated plea for life in prison, which took a potential death penalty trial off the table.

Newman told the judge the hearing initially was set for Torres Chirinos to be served notice of a death penalty trial, but prosecutors withdrew that with the negotiated plea for life in prison.

In South Carolina, only a jury can sentence a person convicted of murder to death after a trial.

Torres Chirinos also pleaded guilty to possession of a weapon during a violent crime and attempted armed robbery, and an additional charge of burglary of a store that happened days before the killing.

Torres Chirinos told the judge through a Spanish interpreter that he was giving up his right to a jury trial by pleading guilty and accepting the life sentence.

He said through an interpreter: “I need them to forgive me.”

There is no possibility of parole, so Torres Chirinos likely will never be deported because he will be in a state prison until he dies.

Thompson an innocent victim targeted at random

Thompson, a 40-year-old mother of two, was driving from Lancaster to a birthday party in Rock Hill at night when her car was surrounded and shot up on a rural road. Torres Chirinos admitted Friday he was the shooter in the crime, in which six males who were between 13 and 21 at the time were arrested.

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They chose Thompson’s car at random because of the secluded dark location on Riverside Road close to the Catawba River, prosecutors and police have said.

“This was a true innocent victim,” McGinnis said.

The doors were locked from the inside, so the suspects did not get anything from her before they left her to die in her car and fled, officials said.

The six suspects were captured on video at a nearby convenience store afterward and there were text messages such as “Mission Fail” saying that they would reap rewards the next time they robbed someone else, Lancaster deputies and prosecutors have said. The six also are charged with burglary of another store days earlier.

Torres Chirinos sent a message to others after the shooting that said, “I took that head myself”, which indicates he is the shooter, McGinnis said.

After Thompson was killed, police said they found a gun at Torres’ home that matched the killing and burglary.

Outrage about killing goes national

The case has resulted in national coverage by outlets such as The New York Post, People, and Fox News.

The Department of Homeland Security called the six suspects “criminal illegal aliens” when they were caught. Sheriff Barry Faile has said the crime “defies any sense of decency in a civilized society.”

Charges against the other five suspects remain pending.

Check back for updates on this developing story.