Six people are in custody and five are teenagers following the murder of 40-year-old Larisha Sharell Thompson.
NEED TO KNOW
- Larisha Sharell Thompson, 40, was murdered while driving in her car just before midnight on May 2 in Lancaster, S.C.
- After a 10-day investigation the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office announced three individuals had been arrested and three minors had been detained for the crime
- Five of the six taken into custody are teenagers, with the youngest being just 13 years old
Authorities investigating the murder of a South Carolina mother earlier this month have taken six individuals into custody — including five teenagers.
Larisha Sharell Thompson, 40, was shot dead in the front seat of her car while out driving on May 2 in Lancaster, a city located near the state’s border with North Carolina and approximately 50 miles south of Charlotte.
On May 12, after a 10-day investigation, the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office announced that they had taken six people into custody.
Deputies arrested three men, who have been charged as adults: Asael Aminadas Torres-Chirinos, 21; Jarby Ardon Ramos-Odari, 18; and Jeyson Sobied Pineda-Salgado, 17.
In addition, three juveniles are being detained by authorities, who are not releasing their names because they are 13, 14, and 15 years old.
The three adults have been charged in arrest warrants with murder, attempted armed robbery and second-degree burglary. The juveniles have also been charged with murder, attempted armed robbery and second-degree burglary, but in Department of Juvenile Justice petitions.
Authorities got their big break in the case when investigating a break-in at a nearby gas station which happened just a few days prior on April 29.
“During the burglary, a handgun was fired at and damaged a surveillance camera and the bathroom door,” the LCSO said in a press release. “An investigator and crime scene agents responded and collected evidence, including ballistics evidence.”
Ballistics evidence from both crime scenes was then sent to the state crime lab where a “forensic examiner determined the same 9 mm handgun was used in both incidents,” according to the LCSO.
Authorities were then able to identify Torres-Chirinos as a suspect because surveillance video and an eyewitness placed his car at the scenes of both crimes.
Deputies later recovered the gun used in both crimes when investigators served a search warrant on Torres-Chirinos’ home while taking him into custody, alleged the LCSO.
A forensic examiner then determined that the pistol found at Torres-Chirinos’ home was the same pistol that fired the ballistic evidence from both incidents.
For that reason, Torres-Chirinos is also charged with two counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a violent crime and one count of possession of a firearm by an unlawful alien.
Authorities believe that the six individuals attempted to rob Thompson after the shooting but were unable to gain access to her vehicle because it was locked.
The three adults are being held at the Lancaster County Detention Center while the juveniles are at a Department of Juvenile Justice detention center.
All six are subject to removal from the United States under federal immigration law based upon their immigration status and the Dept. of Homeland Security has placed immigration detainers on them.