On a warm summer evening in Columbia, South Carolina, the life of 16-year-old Julian “Juju” Keel was tragically cut short. It was the early morning of June 2, 2024, just two days before his 17th birthday, when the rising high school senior found himself an innocent bystander in a violent exchange. Keel, a student and three-sport athlete at Keenan High School, was attending a high school graduation party with over 100 other people at Roll-Out Wangz Egg Rollz and Thangz on Colonial Life
Boulevard.
As the party wound down around 12:30 a.m., Keel and a friend were attempting to leave the venue. In the parking lot, a dispute between two rival groups escalated into gunfire. More than 50 shell casings from at least four different firearms were later recovered from the scene. In the midst of the chaos, as he was trying to get into a vehicle to depart, Keel was struck by a bullet in the upper body. He was not involved in the altercation.
Four months after the fatal shooting, the Columbia Police Department announced the arrests of two individuals. Tonie Wilson, 20, was apprehended in Sumter County by the U.S. Marshals Service's Carolinas Regional Fugitive Task Force. A 16-year-old male juvenile was also arrested in the Gaston area of Lexington County. At the time of the shooting, the juvenile suspect was on supervised release for motor vehicle theft and was wearing an ankle monitor.
Both Wilson and the juvenile face charges of murder, possession of a weapon during a violent crime, and breach of peace of a high and aggravated nature. The juvenile suspect faces an additional charge for possession of a firearm under the age of 18. Investigators believe a 300 Black Out assault-style weapon, one of four firearms seized during the investigation, fired the fatal shot. The investigation revealed that the firearm was not stolen but had been sold on the dark web by its original purchaser. Authorities have indicated that more arrests may be forthcoming as the investigation continues. In the wake of her son's death, Julian's mother has announced plans to file a civil lawsuit against the owners of the property where the shooting occurred, alleging inadequate security.
