In the late afternoon of a Sunday in North Augusta, South Carolina, tragedy struck at a local Sprint gas station on Edgefield Road, shattering the lives of two families. On October 26, 2025, Thomas 'Tadd' Brandt Lilly Jr., a 33-year-old man from Williston, South Carolina, was fatally shot inside the convenience store. The incident, which also claimed the life of 76-year-old Jewel Harden of Hephzibah, Georgia, unfolded as a brutal act of gun violence.
Lilly, who was described by those who knew him as a loyal and lovable person, was tragically in the wrong place at the wrong time.
North Augusta Public Safety officers were dispatched to the scene around 3 p.m. following reports of a shooting. The first officer to arrive encountered a man armed with an AR-style pistol in the parking lot. According to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division the armed man raised his weapon at the officer, prompting the officer to fire. The suspect was struck and subsequently hospitalized for medical treatment. Upon further investigation inside the gas station, officers discovered the bodies of Lilly and Harden.
In the days following the shooting, authorities identified the suspect and announced charges. The Augusta Chronicle reported on October 30 that a 21-year-old man had been charged in the double slaying. SLED was tasked with investigating both the double homicide and the officer-involved shooting. Friends and family mourned the loss of Lilly, who was a proud father and had recently celebrated six months of sobriety, a milestone reflecting his desire for a better future. A celebration of his life was planned for early November at the University Parkway Church of God in Aiken, South Carolina.
