Arrests have been made in Beaufort in connection to the Dec. 23 murder of 18-year-old Trey Blackshear in Bluffton.
According to the Bluffton Police Department, arrest warrants were obtained Wednesday, Jan. 8 for 20-year-old Jaesean Redd and 19-year-old Kionna Ferguson for Accessory After the Fact to Murder. The arrest warrant for Redd was served on Jan. 8 at the Beaufort County Detention Center where he was being held on other charges. Redd is being held on a $150,000 cash bond.
Ferguson was located on January 8 with the assistance of Beaufort County Sheriff Deputies. Her warrant was served by Bluffton Police and she is being held on a $100,000 cash bond.
In late December, a 16-year-old was identified as a subject involved in connection with the murder of Blackshear, as well. The juvenile was charged with Murder and is currently being held at the S.C. Department of Juvenile Justice in Columbia.
Blackshear was found shot to death inside a vehicle in the parking lot of the Lord of Life Lutheran Church in Bluffton on Dec. 23, 2019. Video surveillance footage captured two males running from Blackshear’s vehicle toward Buckwalter Place, where they got into a light-colored sedan and drove off. The two subjects were not immediately located.
According to the Bluffton Police, in the following days, the investigation revealed the light-colored sedan was registered to a residence on Mink Point Boulevard in Beaufort. The Beaufort County Violent Crimes Task Force conducted surveillance on the vehicle and obtained warrants to search the vehicle and the Mink Point Boulevard residence.
During the search, members of the Bluffton Police Department, the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office, the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office Career Criminal Unit and the Beaufort County Violent Crimes Task Force found more than 20 people inside the residence along with 10 handguns, several rifles and narcotics.
Blackshear’s murder is an ongoing investigation by the Bluffton Police Department. Anyone having information regarding the crime is encouraged to call the Bluffton Police Department Tip Line at 843-706-4560 or Crimestoppers of the Lowcountry at 843-554-1111.
