De'Travion RellQuan Brown, a 19-year-old Black male from the small town of Hemingway, South Carolina, had only recently crossed the stage at Hemingway High School when his life was abruptly taken on March 9, 2024. Born on January 5, 2005, he was still at the fragile beginning of adulthood, surrounded by a large, close-knit family that included his parents, siblings, grandparents and great-grandparents, all rooted in the same community that watched him grow up.
Friends and relatives remembered him as humble and respectful, the kind of young man whose quiet demeanor made people feel at ease. He had played sports in school and stayed active in local youth programs, and after graduation he went to work, putting in hours at a warehouse job as he tried to build a future that included skilled trade certifications and a commercial driver’s license.
On that March Saturday in the Donnely Community of Hemingway, the evening unfolded into tragedy. Deputies with the Williamsburg County Sheriff’s Office were called to 220 Poston Street for reports of a shooting. When they arrived, they found De'Travion inside a vehicle on the property, suffering from a gunshot wound. Investigators would later determine that he had been outside the residence when he was shot, and that whoever pulled the trigger fled the scene before law enforcement could arrive. Emergency medical personnel could do nothing; by the time EMS reached him, he had succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead there at the scene.
The days that followed brought grief but not immediate answers. The shooting was quickly classified as a homicide, and the sheriff’s office appealed to the public for information, emphasizing that someone in the community might have seen or heard something that could help explain why a young man had been gunned down outside a home in such a familiar neighborhood. For his family, the formal language of investigative updates stood in stark contrast to the reality of planning a funeral service at Greater St. Mark AME Church, where mourners gathered to say goodbye and share memories of a life that had barely begun.
Nearly three weeks after the shooting, investigators announced their first significant development. A 53-year-old Hemingway woman, Shirlease Williams Maynard, was arrested and charged with accessory after the fact of murder. According to the sheriff’s office, investigators concluded that she had helped remove the gun from the scene and assisted in driving the suspect or suspects away from Poston Street after the shooting, actions that prosecutors say helped those directly responsible avoid immediate capture. She was booked into the Williamsburg County Detention Center, while authorities stressed that the core of the case—the identity and motive of the shooter—remained under active investigation.
As weeks turned into months, law enforcement’s appeals grew more urgent. The Williamsburg County Sheriff’s Office, working with regional partners, supported a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to an arrest and prosecution in De'Travion’s killing, publishing phone numbers and tip lines and asking residents of the Donnely Community and beyond to come forward if they knew anything at all. Online memorial pages continued to fill with candles and condolences, a digital echo of the sorrow felt in Hemingway. While one person has been charged for actions taken after the shooting, the case remains incomplete, with authorities still seeking the person—or people—who fired the shot that ended De'Travion Brown’s life and left his family and town waiting for full justice.
