Tony Medrano, an 18-year-old Hispanic/Latino male from Gaffney, South Carolina, worked alongside his father in the roofing business. To his family, he was a beloved nephew and a role model for his younger cousins. His life was cut short on a Sunday afternoon in his hometown.
On August 21, 2022, Medrano was visiting a friend at the Connecticut Village Apartments on East Junior High Road. At approximately 4:13 p.m., a vehicle carrying four individuals pulled into the complex.
Witnesses reported that the occupants opened fire on a group of people in a drive-by style shooting, striking Medrano. He was found lying in the road with a gunshot wound to the chest and was airlifted to Spartanburg Regional Medical Center, where he succumbed to his injuries later that evening.
The suspects fled in their vehicle but soon lost control and wrecked off nearby Vesta’s Road. All four occupants abandoned the car and fled on foot. Cherokee County Sheriff’s deputies located the wrecked vehicle and took one of the suspects, a juvenile, into custody at the scene. Through a series of interviews, investigators quickly identified the other three individuals involved.
Within days, authorities had arrested all four suspects. Pharrell Jaquan Wilkins, Rejshun Centrel Holmes, Timothy Renardo Dawkins, and another juvenile were all charged with murder. During an emotional bond hearing, Medrano’s family pleaded with the judge to keep the men in jail. “One of you pulled the trigger, and now my nephew is no longer here,” his aunt, Katie Medrano, said while addressing the defendants. “We are sad; we are angry; we are suffering.” A judge denied bond for all four.
The case moved through the legal system, with Pharrell Wilkins eventually entering a guilty plea to the charge of murder. As of March 2026, the case is considered closed, as all four defendants involved in Tony Medrano's death have been sentenced for their roles in the crime.
