4th arrest made in tragic Beaufort County drive-by that killed 14-year-old ‘LJ’
A Beaufort man with a significant criminal record has been charged as the fourth suspect in connection with a 2024 drive-by shooting that killed a 14-year-old Burton boy.
Niger Benjamin Davila, 24, was already in custody at the Beaufort County jail when police served his warrant charging him as an accessory “before the fact” to the murder.
Investigators accused Davila of having advance knowledge about the sudden roadside gunfire that targeted a home on Castle Rock Road on New Year’s Day 2024, killing Jerrieme “L.J.” Washington Jr. as he played video games in the living room.
Two others were inside the home at the time but were not injured. Investigators do not believe L.J. was the intended target in the drive-by.
L.J. was a freshman at Battery Creek High School and a member of the band’s drumline. He played soccer with the local organization Club Beaufort de Fútbol for seven years and was an active member of Cross Community Church, according to his obituary.
Community members remember the teen for his strong sense of faith and unbreakable positive attitude, especially on the soccer field.
“He’s like your assistant coach,” Imer Hernandez, founder of Club Beaufort de Futbol, said of L.J. shortly after his death. “You don’t have to say many words of comfort to the players when you have a player that is saying it on the field.”
Davila’s record includes recent convictions for reckless driving, evading police, possessing a stolen vehicle and accessory after the fact to a felony, the last of which earned him a year in state prison starting in summer 2023.
Police arrested Davila again in a December traffic stop shortly after his release from prison, charging him with unlawfully carrying a gun as a convicted felon and other firearms offenses. Those charges remained pending.
Previous arrests in LJ’s murder
Police named the case’s initial three suspects in May, first charging 20-year-old Columbia resident Alex Joseph Bush as an accessory before the fact.
Later that month, two already-incarcerated men — 19-year-old Jeremiah Kieyonte Warren of St. Helena Island and 20-year-old Nashaun Benjamin of Savannah — were charged with murder as investigators accused them of firing the fatal gunshots.
Kieyonte was already in the Beaufort County jail on a murder charge related to the September 2024 shooting death of a 17-year-old girl at a Burton apartment complex. Benjamin remains in federal custody on unrelated weapons charges, according to police.
All four suspects’ charges connected to L.J.’s murder remained pending. Trial dates had not yet been scheduled.
