- calendar_today August 6, 2025
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Nine teens have been arrested in connection with the June 24 shooting death of 16-year-old Trey Dean Wright of Johnsonville, South Carolina, after police say the crime started as a fight “over a girl.” The fatal shooting of Wright, which some of his accused killers appear to have partially filmed on video, has left a family in Florence County reeling with grief.
Florence County Sheriff’s Office deputies found Wright’s body on First Neck Road on June 24 after he was shot multiple times. The remote road where Wright was found is about 45 miles west of Myrtle Beach. On June 25, investigators arrested 19-year-old Devan Scott Raper of Conway, who is alleged to have fired the fatal shots at Wright after an escalating argument.
But Raper is not the only person to face criminal charges over the teen’s death. Authorities say that he had helped lure Wright to a remote area where he was waiting with a gun after an argument that had begun “over a girl.” Days after Raper’s arrest, investigators announced the arrest of the other suspects.
Details on the Shooting, Fatal Confrontation ‘Over a Girl’
Wright’s mother, Ashley Lindsey, told Fox News Digital that a legal process had followed a tragedy in her family, which has made the process harder. “All this court hearing and bond court and stuff is driving me crazy. I don’t even have time to sit down and think half the time, on top of losing my precious baby,” she said.
A teenager who was arrested in connection with the shooting is Wright’s girlfriend, 17-year-old Gianna Kistenmacher of Myrtle Beach. Officials say Kistenmacher brought Raper to the scene of the shooting after she met with Wright to lure him to the area where the other teens were waiting, according to a complaint filed in Florence County Circuit Court. Prosecutors charged her as an accessory before the fact, saying she knew her boyfriend was “armed and would likely participate in a violent confrontation.”
The South Carolina Law of Attorney General’s Office says that prosecutors in the state can charge minors as adults in certain cases, and Florence County officials confirmed that five of the six other teens arrested so far are also being charged as adults. “The hand of one being the hand of all is part of South Carolina law as well, so that’s the basis of the charge for each of those individuals,” Florence County Sheriff’s Office Major Michael Nunn told WBTW-TV.
As authorities announced arrests of more teens in the weeks after the killing, officials did not release the names of the new suspects but did confirm that they had taken into custody three additional teens in Myrtle Beach and one in nearby Conway. Last week, officials confirmed the three Myrtle Beach-area teens had been charged with murder as well as Raper. In addition to 18-year-old Hunter Kendall and 17-year-old Corrine Belviso, Sydney Kearns, 17, was also charged with murder.
The S.C. Law of Attorney General’s Office said all minors can be charged with murder in the state, even if they were not present during the fatal shooting. Florence County prosecutors appear to have made the charge for three suspects, as the state attorney for the area has not responded to questions about the case.
Teen Gunshot Death in South Carolina Was Filmed, Officials Say
Florence County Sheriff T.J. Joye said the killing had been the result of an argument over a personal relationship, in which young people were pitted against each other. “They had issues with each other, and it was over a female,” he told reporters. “The sad thing is, you’ve got a 16-year-old who lost his life. You’ve got a 19-year-old who is going to be in jail the rest of his life. Over what?”
Joye said authorities believe the fatal shooting was filmed on video by some of the people arrested in connection with the killing. Raper, the man who shot Wright, was taken into custody after the killing and faces charges of murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime. He is being held without bond. Kendall is being charged as an adult and has been detained in the Florence County Jail without bond.
Belviso and Kearns each posted $20,000 surety bonds last week and were released while they await trial. The Florence County Sheriff’s Office has not released additional details about the case as the investigation continues, and a prosecutor for the state did not respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment on the case.
But for one family, the shooting death of Trey Dean Wright is current. His mother told reporters last week that she was in the middle of the legal proceedings of the case. “So now I have to start everything all over again, and that’s what’s aggravating me,” Lindsey said. “Like, get over here so I can have my baby back and not have to worry about nobody saying anything and touching them or touching me.”
Wright’s death is one of many across the United States in recent years that have raised questions about whether conflict between teenagers and access to guns could be resulting in tragedy at an early age. In some cases, local prosecutors in South Carolina have filed murder charges in cases where one person shot another in connection with a fight or argument.




