One teen’s dead, another is detained and a woman’s arrested, SC officials say

The recent shooting death of a teenager in South Carolina has resulted in a 15-year-old getting locked up and the woman who’s his guardian getting arrested, according to the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office.

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On Oct. 8, Thaddaeus Justice Terezakis was shot in the head, Oconee County Coroner Karl Addis said. The 15-year-old from Westminster was taken to a hospital in Greenville where he died at 12:25 p.m., according to the coroner’s office.

The shooting happened at a Sherwood Drive home in Walhalla, according to an arrest warrant.

Following a Friday autopsy, Addis called the teen’s manner of death a homicide.

Another 15-year-old male, who was not publicly identified because of his age, was detained on a charge of involuntary manslaughter, the sheriff’s office said. That teen was taken to a South Carolina Department of Corrections facility in Columbia, according to the sheriff’s office.

The sheriff’s office said it consulted with the 10th Circuit Solicitor’s Office before detaining the juvenile.

Investigators believe that the teen who’s the suspected shooter got the 9mm Taurus handgun from underneath a pillow in his room, and while handling the weapon, the gun fired and hit Thaddaeus, according to the sheriff’s office. Investigators believe that the shooting was an accident, but the teen was negligent in his handling of the gun, the sheriff’s office said.

Also Friday, Davina Jill Brown was arrested, according to the sheriff’s office. The 33-year-old Walhalla resident is a relative of the 15-year-old shooter who has custody of the teen, the sheriff’s office said.

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Brown was charged with unlawfully placing a child at risk of harm, according to the sheriff’s office.

Brown allowed the 15-year-old shooter to “have, or to own, a 9mm Taurus handgun,” the sheriff’s office said in a news release. While knowing the surviving teen had the gun, Brown did not have proper preventative measures in place, according to the release.

Brown was booked into the Oconee County Detention Center, the sheriff’s office said. Information about her bond was not available, and Brown’s not currently listed on the jail’s inmate roster.

Despite the charges, the shooting continues to be investigated by the sheriff’s office.