COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - Family and friends are planning a memorial for a South Carolina 15-year-old who was shot dead after an apparent kidnapping.
Treveon Nelson, an 18-year-old Cayce resident, was arrested Friday in the shooting death of Sanaa Amenhotep. A boy and a girl younger than 18 were also arrested on juvenile charges.
The three are accused of fatally shooting Amenhotep in a field in Leesville on April 5. Nelson is charged with murder, kidnapping, criminal conspiracy, and possession of a weapon during a violent crime.
Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon said the juveniles were arrested after multiple interviews with investigators during the search for Nelson led deputies to conclude there was probable cause to charge them as well.
Officials have told local news outlets that the suspects lured Amenhotep into a stolen vehicle and drove her to Leesville, killing her the same day. Investigators have not disclosed a motive. Deputies said gang activity is connected to the girl’s death but provided no details.
“The suspects knew Sanaa and they all know each other,” Koon said in a statement. Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said last week that Sanaa probably went willingly at first but that she was ultimately held against her will.
Amenhotep’s body was found in the field last week. She had been missing from her Columbia home since April 5. The memorial is planned Monday in a park in Blythewood near her home.
Amenhotep’s family was heavily involved in the search. Her mother, Saleemah Graham-Fleming, told WLTX-TV that “I need justice for my daughter.”
“She loves people, she never really met a stranger,” Fleming said. “That night, she asked to go take pictures near a swing with her sister, and I said ’Sure.’ It was the top of spring break, no problem.”
Nelson was denied bail on Saturday and is jailed in Lexington County. It’s unclear if he has a lawyer to represent him.
Springdale police have charged Nelson with criminal sexual conduct, kidnapping, and felony assault in a separate April 25 incident.
Nelson was also arrested in March and charged by Cayce police with misdemeanor domestic violence and by West Columbia police with unlawfully carrying a handgun, Lexington County court records show.
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