KERSHAW, S.C.,None — Alexis Truesdale thought people were firing guns in the woods when she heard six or seven shots near her Kershaw home Saturday night.
"I was at home on my computer and I heard several shots and didn't think anything of it," Truesdale said.
Moments later, there was a knock on the door and she was told that her neighbor, 28-year-old Nehemiah James, had been shot.
"I ran over there to check on him and he was laying on the floor," she said. "I went to him to hold his hand and try to talk to him."
Truesdale said James was struggling to breathe and wasn't talking. Earlier Saturday, she said she'd heard him arguing with 41-year-old Rodney Thompson.
Not long after the shooting, Thompson was found at a home in Kershaw and charged in connection with the shooting.
"I just heard [James] tell the guy that did it to get off of his property," Truesdale said, remembering the argument she overheard.
Neighbors said the two men were arguing over Thompson's ex-girlfriend.
"I was shocked," said family friend Mamie Lee Miller, who has known Thompson since he was a young boy.
"I was at church, and when they told me I was like 'Oh my goodness, not Rodney,'" she said. "I watched him grow up around here. I just hate it for both families."
A stone's throw from the crime scene on Palmetto Street, Danny Green often watches his six grandchildren. Now, he's concerned for their safety.
"I don't know what it is with this younger generation," Green said. "I just don't want it getting so bad that I can't let them come over. I'm gonna keep my grandchildren right beside me now, all the time."
Though neighbors reported hearing several shots, the Lancaster County Coroner's Office has not confirmed how many times James was shot, or where.
Thompson is still in jail. His bond was denied.
WSOC
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/LH3JSJEF3VBLRJLJQESEAG34AM.png)
