Teen arrested as 4th suspect in killing of Hilton Head high student, police say

Editors Note: This story has been updated to include the charges of the first 16-year-old arrested in the homicide.

A U.S. Marshals task force arrested a 16-year-old boy in Jacksonville, Florida, Wednesday in the Dec. 23 shooting of 18-year-old Trey Blackshear in a Bluffton church parking lot, a Bluffton Police Department release says.

The teen, the fourth arrested in the homicide, was extradited from Jacksonville to the Department of Juvenile Justice in Columbia by two Bluffton Police detectives Wednesday morning, the release says. His name has not been released.

Blackshear, who graduated from Hilton Head High School early with high academic honors, was found shot multiple times while sitting in the driver’s seat of his car parked in the Lord of Life Lutheran Church along Buckwalter Parkway.

Police also have not released the identity of the 16-year-old who turned himself into police days after the shooting. The department previously said he is charged with murder.

His arrest came soon after the Beaufort County Violent Crimes Task Force raided a home on Mink Point Boulevard in the Beaufort area where the car that left the scene of Blackshear’s killing was parked.

During the raid, deputies found more than 20 people inside, seized 10 handguns and several rifles, and narcotics, according to previous reporting.

Earlier this month, Jaesean Jeffrey Redd, 20 and Kionna Michele Ferguson, 19 were arrested and charged with accessory after the fact to murder in Blackshear’s death.

No motive in the shooting has been released.

Blackshear’s murder is an ongoing investigation by the Bluffton Police Department, the release says.

Anyone having information regarding the homicide is encouraged to call the Bluffton Police Department tip line, 843-706-4590. To provide a tip anonymously and possibly receive a cash reward, call Crimestoppers of the Lowcountry at 843-554-1111.

This story was originally published January 29, 2020 at 5:20 PM.