Teen charged with murder of 14-year-old on St. Helena Island, police say
Police arrested a teenager in connection with last week’s shooting that killed a 14-year-old boy on St. Helena Island.
Charles Jamirea Williams, 17, was charged Thursday evening with murder and two felony offenses related to firearm possession according to the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office. He turned himself in while accompanied by his family at the sheriff’s headquarters on Duke Street.
Deputies say only one shot was fired in the incident around 11:55 p.m. July 18 inside a home on Capers Island Circle, part of a small neighborhood on southwestern St. Helena.
First responders met up with the boy’s mother as she rushed him to the hospital in the minutes following the shooting. Police continued doing CPR in the roadway until emergency crews took the 14-year-old to Beaufort Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Searching the home shortly after, investigators found a significant amount of bloodstains on the floor, walls and doorknobs, several firearms on one of the beds and a single .45-caliber bullet casing on the kitchen floor.
Lt. Danny Allen of the BCSO said Williams’ arrest warrants were obtained after interviewing a number of witnesses from the scene, including the suspect himself. Williams and the 14-year-old victim appeared to have been hanging out at the Capers Island Circle home before the fatal shooting, Allen said.
Staff at the Beaufort County Coroner’s Office had not identified the shooting victim because they do not release the names of minors, according to Chief Deputy Coroner Shane Bowers.
Allen clarified that although the title of one of Williams’ charges references a “stolen firearm,” the charge was applied because the 17-year-old suspect was not old enough to own a gun. The weapon believed to have been used in the fatal shooting was not flagged as stolen.
The boy appeared to be the county’s youngest victim of gun violence since 14-year-old Jerrieme “L.J.” Washington was killed in a drive-by shooting on his Burton home in early 2024.
As of 10 a.m. Friday, Williams remained in custody at the Beaufort County Detention Center.
This report will be updated.
This story was originally published July 25, 2025 at 10:03 AM.
