A toddler died over the weekend, and a South Carolina man has been charged with murder, according to the Florence County Sheriff’s Office.
According to the Florence County Coroner’s Office, the youngster killed in Saturday’s incident was 3-year-old Antonio Kamani Burgess II.
Kenneth Washington Jr., a 36-year-old Hemingway resident, was charged with murder after the 3-year-old died, the sheriff’s office announced Wednesday. Washington was arrested on Tuesday and lodged into the Florence County Detention Center, where he remains in custody since no bond has been set, according to jail records.
The shooting took place Saturday night, according to the sheriff’s office. Deputies arrived to the Johnsonville Rescue Squad around 9:25 p.m. after learning that a gunshot victim, Antonio, had been transported to the fire station following a shooting in the 900 block of Midway Highway, according to the sheriff’s office.
Washington drove another individual to the scene and witnessed the fatal shooting, according to the sheriff’s office.
According to the sheriff’s office, the other person accompanying Washington was Antonio’s mother’s boyfriend, who got out of Washington’s vehicle and attacked and assaulted both the mother and the person driving the car she was in when it came to a halt, WMBF said. The sheriff’s office went on to state that when the boyfriend attacked the driver with a gun, the weapon fired, and Antonio was shot in the head, according to WMBF.
There was no information available on the survivors’ condition.
According to the sheriff’s office, Washington provided aid and assistance to the boyfriend before driving away with the gunman. Washington also made no attempt to notify law enforcement or assist the victim, according to the sheriff’s office.
While Washington is in custody, the search for the shooter continues. According to Florence County judicial records, Washington is expected to return to court on November 19 for a bond hearing.
Anyone with information regarding the shooting is encouraged to call the sheriff’s office at 843-665-2121, CrimeStoppers at 888-CRIME-SC, or leave an online report.
