Trial underway for 2019 murder of HHI teen outside church. 2 suspects charged as adults
Trial proceedings began this week in the December 2019 killing of Hilton Head student Trey Blackshear in a church parking lot during an attempted armed robbery.
The 18-year-old star soccer player was found shot to death in the driver’s seat of his car just four days after he graduated early from Hilton Head Island High School.
Two suspects are charged for Blackshear’s murder: Xavier Da’Quan Barnes, 21, of Lady’s Island, and Terrance Wing, 20, of St. Helena. Both defendants were 16 at the time of the shooting but will be tried as adults, a judge ruled about a year after the incident.
Wing’s trial started on Monday. Following prosecution testimony from a number of forensic scientists and law enforcement officials, the defense rested its case without calling any witnesses just before noon Wednesday. Jury deliberations are expected to begin in the afternoon.
Formerly charged in Blackshear’s death were Jaesean Jeffrey Redd and Kionna Michele Ferguson, both 24-year-old Burton residents. Their charges of accessory after the fact to murder were dismissed in March 2021, according to Beaufort County judicial records.
According to arrest warrants, Ferguson drove Redd and the two other suspects to the Lord of Life Lutheran Church off Buckwalter Parkway in Bluffton on Dec. 23, 2019, where an “attempted robbery” on Blackshear’s vehicle ended in gunfire. Barnes and Wing are believed to have shot the fatal bullets, which struck the teen in the head and shoulder.
Assistant Solicitor Trasi Campbell, who is prosecuting the case, said the two gunmen climbed into the back of the car and opened fire. She added that Jordan Singleton, a close friend of Blackshear, was in the passenger seat during the robbery and fired two bullets in self-defense.
Blackshear graduated high school with high academic honors and a number of soccer scholarships, planning to study business administration in college to inherit his grandfather’s company. Friends and family remember the teen for his humor, youthful wisdom and “strong ability to put a smile on faces,” his obituary says.
Barnes and Wing are represented by defense attorneys Luke Shealey and Jared Newman, respectively. Circuit Court Judge Carmen T. Mullen is presiding.
Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story indicated Xavier Barnes would stand trial this week. His court date has not yet been scheduled. This story has also been updated to reflect Trasi Campbell as the case’s prosecutor.
This story was originally published April 10, 2024 at 11:49 AM.
