In the late hours of a Thursday night in Chester, South Carolina, the life of 22-year-old Ankee Pendergrass was tragically cut short. On November 16, 2017, Pendergrass was walking home after visiting his grandmother when he was shot multiple times. The shooting occurred just before 11 p.m. at the corner of Saluda and Foote streets, where he was discovered in a yard with gunshot wounds.
Emergency services transported him to Chester Regional Medical Center, and he was subsequently airlifted to a hospital in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he succumbed to his injuries. A male, Pendergrass was a former standout athlete at Chester High School, and his death was a shock to those who knew him and his family. A city councilman who lived near the scene of the shooting recalled hearing the gunshots, which another neighbor mistook for firecrackers.
The Chester Police Department immediately launched a homicide investigation into Pendergrass's death, with assistance from the Chester County Sheriff's Office K-9 unit. Investigators found a BMW with apparent bullet holes through the windshield near the crime scene, though it was determined that the vehicle was not directly involved in the shooting. A neighbor reported hearing six gunshots and seeing three individuals leave a nearby house, get into a car, and drive away. Despite these initial leads, police did not identify a motive for the killing. At the time of his death, court records indicated that Pendergrass was out on bond for several weapons and drug charges, though investigators could not confirm if this was connected to his murder.
In the days following the shooting, the Chester Police Department made public appeals for any information that could lead to the apprehension of those responsible for Ankee Pendergrass's death. However, no arrests have been made in the case, and the investigation into his murder remains unsolved. His family, who described him as a quiet young man, was left devastated and without answers as to why he was killed just minutes after leaving his grandmother's home.
