In the late autumn of 2015, the life of an 18-year-old male, Jamonte Markal Simmons, was tragically cut short in his hometown of Ridgeland, South Carolina. Known affectionately as 'Monte' to his friends and family, he was a student at Jasper County High School with a deep love for animals. From a young age, Monte would often bring home various creatures he found on his adventures through nature, a passion his mother encouraged.
He even volunteered at a local animal shelter and dreamed of one day becoming a veterinarian. Described as outgoing and humorous, he was the prankster of his family and enjoyed joking and having fun with his cousins and siblings.
On Saturday, November 14, 2015, just five days after his eighteenth birthday, a dispute over a four-wheeler in a wooded area near his home on Rice Shire Road turned fatal. Jamonte's aunt, who was inside a nearby home with her sister, heard two gunshots. When they rushed outside, they found Jamonte deceased. An investigation by the Jasper County Sheriff's Office quickly identified a 15-year-old, Jamarie Shakel Garner, as the suspect. The altercation between the two teenagers had escalated, leading to the fatal shooting.
Jamarie Garner was taken into custody and charged with murder and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime. He was initially held at the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice Detention Center. In November 2017, a ruling determined that Garner, then 17, would be tried as an adult. A week before his trial was scheduled to begin in October 2020, Garner, then 20 years old, pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter. A Circuit Court Judge accepted the plea, and Garner was sentenced to 18 years in prison for his role in Jamonte Simmons' death. In a poignant tribute in June 2017, Jamonte's mother, Angel Simmons, wore a cap and gown and accepted her son's honorary diploma at what would have been his graduation from Ridgeland-Hardeeville High School, keeping his memory alive.
