In the late summer of 2022, a dispute between two acquaintances in Columbia, South Carolina, escalated to a fatal conclusion, ending the life of 20-year-old Travis K. Sutton Jr. A Black male, Sutton was shot on the afternoon of Tuesday, August 23, 2022, at the North Pointe Estates apartment complex on Ripplemeyer Avenue. First responders were dispatched to the scene around 3:30 p.m.
after the Columbia Police Department's Shotspotter system detected gunfire in the area.
Upon their arrival, officers discovered Sutton outside an apartment building with a gunshot wound to his upper body. He was immediately transported to a local hospital for medical attention. Despite the efforts of medical personnel, Travis Sutton succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead the following day, Wednesday, August 24, 2022. The Richland County Coroner, Naida Rutherford, later confirmed his identity.
The investigation into Sutton's death led authorities to identify 19-year-old Kevin Darnell Jowers as the primary suspect. Police determined that Sutton and Jowers were acquaintances and that the shooting was the result of a prior disagreement or argument between them. Investigators were able to link Jowers to the crime through the collection of ballistic and DNA evidence at the scene. Surveillance footage also captured a dark-colored 2015 Nissan Altima believed to have been used by the suspect.
After a manhunt that lasted for two months, Kevin Darnell Jowers was apprehended on a Tuesday in October at a residence on Springtree Drive, with the assistance of the U.S. Marshals Service. He was subsequently arrested and charged with murder and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime. Jowers was booked into the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center. At the time of the shooting, he was reportedly out on bond for a previous arrest in July.
