Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

SC mother charged in connection with fatal shooting of Richland K-9

RICHLAND COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE

“I’ve said it over and over this past year. Juveniles with guns is going to get you one of two places — the cemetery or in jail," Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said Friday, Jan. 3, 2025.

A South Carolina mother faces charges in connection with the shooting death of a Richland County Sheriff's Department K-9 named Bumi.

Sheriff Leon Lott said Friday that Shemeka Williams, 34, is charged with accessory after the fact after Lott said surveillance footage showed Williams picking up her 13-year-old son from the shooting area at about 3 a.m. Dec. 23, 2024. The department said the teen's clothes were located in the wash and his shoes in the attic during a home search.

Three people were charged in Bumi's death.

They include Williams' son, who police said shot and killed the K-9, and a 16-year-old. Both pleaded guilty. A third suspect, 17-year-old Damian Brown, was denied bond, the department said. Lott said the 16-year-old was sentenced to 12 months probation.

On Dec. 23, 2024, the sheriff's department said deputies spotted a stolen vehicle. The driver of that vehicle refused to stop, and, during a pursuit out of the car, Bumi was shot at least twice, the department said in an earlier statement.

“It is a very sad day, having to stand here for the third time this year and talk about a loss of one of our K-9s,” Lott said in an earlier statement. “It is only by God’s grace that a deputy was not shot.”

Lott said parents need to take more accountability,

“I’ve said it over and over this past year. Juveniles with guns is going to get you one of two places — the cemetery or in jail," Lott said in a statement Friday.

Lott continued that to combat kids getting guns, the Richland County Sheriff's Department will "begin investigating the circumstances surrounding any arrest or detention of any juvenile who is caught late at night or in the early morning hours committing crimes. If investigators determined that the parent was complacent and allowed or condoned the behavior they will face the possibility of getting charged."

Maayan Schechter (My-yahn Schek-ter) is a news reporter with South Carolina Public Radio and ETV. She worked at South Carolina newspapers for a decade, previously working as a reporter and then editor of The State’s S.C. State House and politics team, and as a reporter at the Aiken Standard and the Greenville News. She grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, and graduated from the University of North Carolina-Asheville in 2013.