A 9mm pistol believed to be the weapon that was used was found in a trash can in the restroom of a convenience store in Lancaster, the sheriff’s office said.
A 14-year-old South Carolina boy has been arrested and charged in connection to the shooting death of a 44-year-old woman who was killed inside her home on Tuesday, officials said.
The victim and the suspect knew each other, a spokesperson for the Lancaster Sheriff’s Office told FOX 46. A motive for the crime has not yet been released.
The teen, who was not identified because of his age, was taken to the Department of Juvenile Justice Detention Center in Columbia, South Carolina, where he will be held pending proceedings in the Lancaster County Family Court, the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
“The juvenile is delinquent for committing the offenses of murder, possession of a firearm during the commission of a violent crime and possession of a pistol by a person under 18,” the sheriff’s office said in a release.
The Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office and emergency personnel received a call Monday at 6:41 p.m. regarding shots fired at a home at 2701 Quiet Acres Road, officials said.
When sheriffs did not receive a call-out response at the house, they entered and found a woman on the floor of the living room with apparent gunshot wounds. Paramedics tended to victim, but she was already dead. The woman was identified as Veronica McIlwain, the sheriff’s office said in a release.
The Lancaster County coroner was called to the scene, and an autopsy of the victim will be scheduled, the release said.
Officials say interviews were conducted of several people believed to have knowledge of events related to the shooting. A 9mm pistol believed to be the weapon that was used was found in a trash can in the restroom of a convenience store in Lancaster, WSOC-TV reported.
The 14-year-old was not at the scene when the police were there but had arrived in a car shortly after. At that point, the juvenile was detained and taken to the sheriff’s office, police said.
The home and two vehicles were searched and enough evidence was collected linking the teen as the shooter, police said in the release.
“This is an ongoing investigation, but we believe we have an accurate account of the events that occurred on Quiet Acres Road last night,” said Sheriff Barry Faile. “We do not believe anybody else was involved.”
“This is a tragedy for the family and friends of Ms. McIlwain, and our thoughts and prayers are with them," he said.
McIlwain’s sister-in-law told WBTV that she was a “sweet, kind-hearted person who did not deserve what happened.”
