LANCASTER COUNTY, S.C. (TCN) — Investigators arrested six people for their alleged involvement in the shooting of a 40-year-old woman who was found dead in her car this month.
On May 2 just after midnight, Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to the 3000 block of Riverside Road and found Larisha Thompson deceased in the driver’s seat of her car with an apparent gunshot wound to the head. Officials believe Thompson was “the random victim of a robbery attempt.”
Earlier that week, on April 30, deputies were called to investigate a burglary at the Van Wyck Mart on Rock Hill Highway. The store’s owner showed deputies surveillance footage that reportedly showed multiple men attempting to break in at around 10:30 p.m. on April 29. The suspects could not get in through the main door, so they broke a door and walked into a bathroom. The store, however, was not accessible through that bathroom. One of the men reportedly shot at the surveillance camera, which caused damage to it and the bathroom door. Officials collected ballistics and other evidence at the scene.
A forensic examiner at the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) determined that Thompson’s shooter and the suspect who fired at the surveillance camera used the same 9 mm handgun. Detectives also linked 21-year-old Asael Torres-Chirinos and his car to both scenes. Deputies executed a search warrant at his house and discovered a 9 mm pistol that matched the ballistics results.
Detectives located five other suspects and arrested them. Torres-Chirinos, 18-year-old Jarby Ramos-Odari, and 17-year-old Jeyson Pineda-Salgado are all charged with murder, attempted robbery, and second-degree burglary. Torres-Chirinos allegedly fired the gun at both scenes, so he is facing additional charges of 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. They were all denied bond.
Three juveniles, who are 13, 14, and 15 years old, were detained in the juvenile justice system with petitions for murder, attempted armed robbery, and second-degree burglary. They will face a judge in family court this week.
According to the sheriff’s office, Torres-Chirinos was allegedly in the passenger seat when his car pulled up next to Thompson’s. He reportedly shot and killed her, then her vehicle came to a stop in the road. Torres-Chirinos and his co-conspirators reportedly attempted to open her car doors, but they were locked.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security put detainers on all six suspects, so if any of them are released prior to their trial, they’ll be placed in Homeland Security’s custody.
Sheriff Barry Faile said in a statement, “This shooting defies any sense of decency in a civilized society. Ms. Thompson was going about her business on a Friday night, not bothering anyone. All of a sudden these six men and boys, out to get something for nothing from someone they did not know and had no business bothering, pulled alongside her car, and Torres-Chirinos opened fire, killing Ms. Thompson.”
He added, “There’s no place in our society for acts like this or the people who commit them, and my hope is these six are never again among us.”