4th suspect’s arrest believed to be the last in Hilton Head teen’s killing, police say
Bluffton Police do not expect to make more arrests related to the shooting that killed Hilton Head Island teen Trey Blackshear days before Christmas, according to department spokesperson Capt. Joe Babkiewicz.
The department has arrested four suspects since Dec. 28.
“We believe the fourth arrest was the final suspect in the case,” Babkiewicz told The Island Packet.
Two 16-year-old males have been arrested in the Dec. 23 killing. One turned himself in less than a week after the shooting, and the second was taken into custody on Wednesday in Jacksonville, Florida.
Both teens were charged with murder and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime, Babkiewicz said.
Because the suspects are juveniles, the department is not releasing their names. They both are being held at the Department of Juvenile Justice in Columbia.
Two other suspects, who live at the same address in Burton, were arrested earlier this month and are charged with accessory after the fact to murder.
Jaesean Jeffrey Redd, 20, was arrested Jan. 8, and Kionna Michele Ferguson, 19, was arrested Jan. 9.
Ferguson drove the suspects in her vehicle, a brown 2001 Toyota Camry, to Bluffton to meet Blackshear, and Redd was a passenger in the car, according to arrests warrants The Island Packet previously obtained.
The warrants say Ferguson and Redd were in the car during and after the shooting. During interviews with police, both suspects also “confirmed” they were inside the car.
Redd and Ferguson were incarcerated as of Thursday. Redd is being held on a $150,000 cash bond; Ferguson is held on a $100,000 cash bond.
Bluffton Police’s investigation began after 18-year-old 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.
The investigation is ongoing.
“Our sympathy goes out to the family of the Blackshears,” Babkiewicz said. “And, we know this is not going to bring their son back, but we hope it helps.”
