New arrest made in shooting death of Dale 18-year-old

A 17-year-old was arrested Friday in connection with the shooting death of an 18-year-old Dale teen, according to the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office.

Geoni Najee Clark, is charged with the Wednesday murder of William Kareem Major, who was found in an SUV in the parking lot of a Keans Neck Road church with multiple gunshot wounds to his torso. Deputies believe Major was shot at 969 Kinloch Road, then tried to drive away before pulling over at Mt. Carmel Baptist Church. Major graduated from Battery Creek High School in 2014, according to the Beaufort County School District.

The short drive would have taken Major past Clark's home in the 500 block of Keans Neck Road.

The Sheriff's Office said it would release no further details of the incident Friday night, citing the ongoing investigation.

A news release Thursday named a different teenager as the suspect, though the Sheriff's Office retracted that statement later in the day.

Sheriff P.J. Tanner declined to answer questions about the Thursday announcement. The initial suspect, a Beaufort 18-year-old, declined to comment late Thursday through his parents.

Clark remained at the Beaufort County Detention Center on Friday, awaiting a bond hearing.

In 2013, he was charged as an adult with armed robbery and first-degree assault and battery by a mob. He and three younger boys were accused of beating a 57-year-old Seabrook man and stealing his EBT card.

Those charges were later downgraded to third-degree assault and battery and strong-arm robbery and handled through family court, according to court records.

This story was originally published January 9, 2015 at 7:05 PM with the headline "New arrest made in shooting death of Dale 18-year-old."