Judge denies bond for ex-boyfriend accused of killing Bluffton mother of 5

The Bluffton man accused of shooting his ex-girlfriend 12 times in November will not receive bond, Judge Carmen Mullen ruled Thursday.

Simon Atkinson, 57, is charged with the murder of 42-year-old Rasheda Vanessa Kelson of Bluffton and possession of a weapon during a violent crime.

Kelson, known as “Nessa” to her friends, was pronounced dead of multiple gunshot wounds on Thomas Road in Hardeeville, around 8:30 a.m. on Nov. 20.

Assistant Solicitor Hunter Swanson said in court Thursday that Atkinson and Kelson had been in a romantic relationship for four years. They were broken up, but he still lived with her at the time of her death, Swanson said.

She had begun seeing someone new and complained to her new boyfriend about Atkinson putting his hands on her once, threatening her and showing up at her job, Swanson said.

Kelson stayed with her boyfriend in Hardeeville the night of Nov. 19 and went outside in the morning to move her car. Her boyfriend said that he thought he heard the noise of the car backfiring, and went outside to see Atkinson firing into the driver’s side window of Kelson’s car, Swanson said. He called 911 and saw that Kelson had been shot 12 times, including in the head.

Atkinson also called 911 and said that he shot his girlfriend, Swanson said. He was arrested by Beaufort County sheriff’s deputies during a traffic stop near the Hilton Head Island bridges at the Pinckney Island boat landing.

Kelson is survived by her five children: Tye, Derrick, Eric, Diamond and Trevon.

At Thursday’s bond hearing, the victim’s son, Eric Kelson, asked the judge to deny bond for Atkinson in a brief statement.

“He could be a risk to the community, to my family and himself,” he said.

Mullen agreed, saying in the decision to deny bond that “I think he’s a danger to the community and he’s a flight risk.”

Atkinson’s lawyer, Patrick Hall, said his client had worked as a bellhop on Hilton Head Island and believed he could get his job back, adding that Atkinson had no prior convictions on his record. He was asking for Atkinson to receive a $150,000 bond.

Rachel Jones

The Island Packet

843-631-6039

Rachel Jones covers education for the Island Packet and the Beaufort Gazette. She attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and has worked for the Daily Tar Heel and Charlotte Observer. She has won awards from the South Carolina Press Association, Associated College Press and North Carolina College Media Association for feature writing and education reporting.