On August 31, 2021, a burst of gunfire outside an apartment building on Heckle Boulevard in Rock Hill, South Carolina, forever altered the course of many lives. Thirty-year-old Antwan Marquis Agurs, a Black male, was struck by several bullets in the attack. He was rushed to a hospital in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he fought for his life for more than a week before succumbing to his injuries on September 8, 2021.
His death was ruled a homicide, leaving his family and community to grapple with the sudden and violent loss.
For months, the investigation into Agurs' murder seemed to stall, with no suspects publicly identified. The silence was broken in February 2022, when Rock Hill Police announced a significant breakthrough. They charged 25-year-old Jamie Gavantay Williams with the murder of Agurs, as well as with weapons violations. At the time of this new charge, Williams was already incarcerated at the York County jail, having been arrested in November 2021 for a separate fatal shooting that tragically occurred in the same area. The key to charging Williams in Agurs' death came from two crucial pieces of evidence. A GPS ankle monitor that Williams was required to wear from a previous arrest placed him at the scene of the shooting. Furthermore, investigators intercepted a letter Williams had written from jail, which contained details about Agurs' killing that had not been released to the public.
The investigation didn't end with Williams. Police also arrested 19-year-old Nehemiah Latavion Boular of Fort Mill, charging him as an accessory after the fact to murder. Detectives alleged that Boular was aware that Williams had shot Agurs and acted as the getaway driver, helping Williams flee the scene. Both Williams and Boular were held in the York County jail without bail.
In December 2023, Jamie Gavantay Williams appeared in court to face the consequences of his actions. Rather than risk a trial and a potential life sentence, he accepted a plea deal. In a legal maneuver known as an Alford plea, Williams did not admit guilt but acknowledged that prosecutors had enough evidence for a likely conviction. He pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter in the death of Antwan Agurs, as well as in the November 2021 killing of Kevion Harris. Williams was sentenced to a total of 25 years in a South Carolina prison for the two killings and an unrelated drug charge, bringing a measure of closure to a case that began with a senseless act of violence.
