In the late afternoon of September 22, 2024, a devastating incident cut short the life of 16-year-old Natiya Browne from Charlotte, North Carolina. The tragedy unfolded at the Plantersville Store, a convenience store on U.S. Highway 701 South in Georgetown County, South Carolina. Around 2:45 p.m., deputies from the Georgetown County Sheriff's Office were called to the scene where they discovered Browne on the ground, having sustained two gunshot wounds to her chest.
Despite the immediate response from emergency medical services, she was pronounced dead at the location.
The investigation into the shooting quickly pointed to a suspect. The Georgetown County Sheriff's Office identified 20-year-old Daemon Hykem Sanders of Georgetown as the individual allegedly responsible for Browne's death. A search for Sanders ensued, and he was apprehended later that same evening, shortly after 7 p.m.
Following his arrest, Daemon Hykem Sanders was charged with murder and booked into the Georgetown County Detention Center. In a subsequent court appearance, a judge denied bond for Sanders. Reports also emerged that the suspect may be asserting a claim of self-defense in the fatal shooting.
