In the early morning hours of November 23, 2021, the life of 32-year-old Kevion Donshare Harris, a Black male from Rock Hill, South Carolina, was tragically cut short. Harris was discovered lifeless on Coronet Court, situated near an apartment complex off Heckle Boulevard in the southern part of Rock Hill, having sustained multiple gunshot wounds. Emergency medical personnel were dispatched to the scene around 2:30 a.m.
following a 911 call from a person who reported hearing gunshots approximately 25 minutes earlier and then saw a man on the ground; Harris was pronounced dead at the scene.
The investigation into Harris's death swiftly led authorities to a suspect, 25-year-old Jamie Gavantay Williams, also a resident of Rock Hill. Williams was apprehended on the same day as the shooting and subsequently faced charges of murder, possession of a weapon during a violent crime, and illegal carrying of a gun. Evidence recovered from the scene of the shooting on Coronet Court directly implicated Williams in the crime. During his initial court appearance, Williams proclaimed his innocence, stating, 'I ain't kill nobody...I promise I ain't kill that man,' while Harris's family wept in the courtroom. A judge denied him bond, ensuring he would remain in custody.
The history between Kevion Harris and Jamie Gavantay Williams was fraught with violence, a key element that surfaced during the investigation. Several months prior to the fatal shooting, on May 1, 2021, both men were involved in a shootout with each other inside the Carolina Place Mall in Pineville, North Carolina. The altercation, which stemmed from a verbal dispute, resulted in both Harris and Williams sustaining non-life-threatening gunshot wounds and causing a panic that led to the mall's evacuation. Both men were charged in connection with the mall shooting, and Williams was out on bail for that incident when he shot and killed Harris. In December 2023, Jamie Gavantay Williams accepted a plea deal, pleading guilty under an Alford plea to the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter in the death of Kevion Harris, as well as in another killing that occurred in August 2021. Williams was sentenced to a total of 25 years in prison for the charges.
