In the late evening of September 13, 2025, a domestic dispute in Johnsonville, South Carolina, tragically claimed the life of 3-year-old Antonio Kamani Burgess II. The young male was fatally wounded by a gunshot to the head while seated in the back of a car on Midway Highway.
The events leading to the fatal shooting began to unfold around 9:25 p.m. when deputies were called to the Johnsonville Rescue Squad after Antonio was brought in with a gunshot wound.
The child's mother was in a car with another driver when they were confronted by her boyfriend, Joseph Waterman Jr. Waterman had been driven to the location by Kenneth Washington Jr. An altercation ensued, during which Waterman allegedly assaulted both the mother and the driver of the car she was in.
During the assault, Waterman reportedly struck the driver with a handgun, causing the weapon to discharge. The single bullet struck Antonio in the head as he sat in the backseat. Following the shooting, Waterman and Washington fled the scene. The driver of the car carrying Antonio rushed him to the nearby rescue squad for help, but his injuries proved fatal.
In the aftermath, law enforcement began a search for the suspects. Kenneth Washington Jr., a 36-year-old from Hemingway, was apprehended and charged with murder. He was booked into the Florence County Detention Center. Joseph Waterman Jr. remains at large and is wanted on a murder charge. Authorities have described him as armed and dangerous. The senseless death of the young boy, nicknamed 'Juju' by his parents, has left his family and the local community in mourning.
