In the early morning hours of a summer day in Columbia, South Carolina, a sudden burst of violence shattered the quiet outside a Family Dollar store on Fairfield Road. On June 21, 2020, Kenneth 'Red' Young, a 61-year-old male, was in the parking lot of the establishment when he was tragically shot in the upper body. The incident occurred shortly before 8:30 a.m., and despite being rushed to Prisma Health Richland hospital, Young succumbed to his injuries.
The Columbia Police Department,
alerted by a ShotSpotter notification, quickly descended upon the scene. Their investigation into the fatal shooting led them to a nearby Super 8 motel later that same day. It was there that they apprehended a suspect, 27-year-old Gregory Edwards, Jr., during a traffic stop as he was leaving the motel. Inside the vehicle, officers discovered a firearm that was seized for ballistic testing to determine if it was the weapon used in the deadly encounter.
Following his arrest, Gregory Edwards, Jr. was taken to the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center. He faced multiple charges, including murder, possession of a firearm by a person convicted of a crime of violence, and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime. At the time of his arrest, the motive for the shooting that ended Kenneth Young's life remained under investigation by authorities.
