DeJaun Fulton, a 21-year-old Black man, died on November 3, 2018, after gunfire erupted on Riverview Avenue in North Charleston, South Carolina. The first frantic call for help came in late that morning, and officers rushed to the 2031 address where they found him gravely wounded and tried to keep him alive as emergency medical crews arrived. He was taken to the Medical University of South Carolina, but the injury proved fatal, and the coroner later recorded his time of death as 11:58 a.m.
In the moments leading up to the shooting, investigators documented a small, ordinary request that turned into panic: his grandmother told police she had asked him to take the dog outside. She said she heard gunshots soon after, then saw him sprint from the front yard toward the back door, clutching his chest and saying he’d been shot. Witnesses placed the gunfire in a nearby parking area at 2032A Riverview Avenue, and the scene showed other signs of danger spilling outward—police noted that a vehicle parked nearby had also been struck by bullets.
Detectives focused quickly on people inside a trailer connected to the area. After speaking with occupants and continuing their search, officers arrested 17-year-old Shaihiem Hamilton of North Charleston. He was booked on a murder charge, and police also announced an additional charge of possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, while noting their belief that the victim and suspect knew each other. Investigators also recorded Hamilton’s claim that he had been asleep through the incident.
In the years after the arrest, South Carolina Department of Corrections records listed Hamilton as incarcerated under an adult straight sentence and housed at Turbeville, with active entries showing convictions for strong arm robbery and a firearms provision offense, along with projected release and parole-eligibility dates. Those corrections records do not, on their face, spell out how the original murder charge was resolved in court, but they do document his continuing custody status and the offenses currently tied to his confinement.
