In the spring of 2019, the life of 26-year-old Jahquan Peterson was violently cut short in Columbia, South Carolina. On the night of May 11th, a 911 call reported gunshots at an apartment on Skyland Drive. When Columbia Police Department officers arrived, they discovered a grim scene. Inside the residence lay the bodies of Jahquan Peterson and 23-year-old Mary Carmichael, both of whom had been fatally shot in the upper body.
The investigation into the double homicide quickly painted a
picture of a home invasion gone tragically wrong. It was determined that two men, their faces obscured by ski masks, had ambushed Peterson as he was returning home. Armed with pistols, they forced him into his apartment, pistol-whipping him in the process. The motive for this brutal intrusion was believed to be armed robbery. Cash was found scattered around the apartment and leading away from the scene, suggesting a chaotic and violent struggle had taken place.
In a courageous act of self-defense, Mary Carmichael, who was upstairs, fired down at the intruders, managing to strike one of them. The assailants returned fire, tragically killing her before they fled the scene. Not long after the shooting, a crucial piece of the puzzle fell into place when 18-year-old Genari Gresean McNeil arrived at a local hospital with gunshot wounds to his wrist, leg, and head. Hospital surveillance footage captured another man, who concealed his face with a t-shirt, dropping McNeil off before quickly disappearing.
McNeil was uncooperative with investigators about how he sustained his injuries, but the evidence against him mounted. His blood was found at the crime scene, and he was soon arrested and charged with two counts of murder, armed robbery, first-degree burglary, and possession of a weapon. While McNeil was in custody, the search for his accomplice continued.
In March of 2023, Genari McNeil faced a Richland County jury. After approximately an hour and a half of deliberation, he was found guilty on all charges. For his role in the deaths of Jahquan Peterson and Mary Carmichael, he was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences for the murders, in addition to 30 years in prison for the armed robbery, burglary, and weapons charges. The second suspect, however, was never publicly identified or apprehended.
