On a summer evening in Salley, South Carolina, a domestic dispute shattered the quiet of a Maple Street home, leaving 43-year-old Thembi Chalmers dead. On July 5, 2020, Chalmers was shot and killed by her boyfriend, Levi Bonnett, in the residence they shared. The fatal encounter was the tragic culmination of an argument between the couple.
After shooting Chalmers, the 45-year-old Bonnett left their shared home and walked less than 100 feet to a friend's house on the same street.
It was there that he took his own life. The Aiken County Coroner's Office was called to both scenes just before 9 p.m. that Sunday.
Thembi Chalmers was discovered with a fatal gunshot wound and was pronounced dead at the scene. An autopsy was scheduled to be performed in Newberry. Bonnett's death was ruled a suicide, and authorities did not plan an autopsy for him, pending toxicology results. The investigation by the Salley Police Department and the Aiken County Sheriff's Office concluded that the incident was a homicide-suicide. Court records revealed that at the time of his death, Levi Bonnett had pending criminal charges from 2018 for resisting arrest and a weapons charge from 2019 for using a firearm while under the influence.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, on November 17, 1976, Thembi Chalmers had relocated to South Carolina, eventually settling in Salley where she worked as a Medicaid Contractor. She had attended Voorhees College in Denmark, South Carolina, and later earned a bachelor's degree. Her life was remembered by her family, including her parents, sisters, and a brother.
