Police: Pageland robbery, shooting suspect bought beer, cocaine with stolen money

PAGELAND, S.C. — Police said 19-year-old Devonte Rivers confessed to the robbery and shooting of a 30-year-old store clerk, saying "he just wanted money."

Police arrested Rivers Wednesday night after two eyewitnesses came forward, saying they saw someone running in the area after the incident Sunday night. Rivers was staying at a mobile home a block from where police K-9s lost his scent during an intense search.

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Police said Rivers walked into the Tienda Mexicana in downtown Pageland Sunday afternoon and cashed a check for about $80. He came back an hour later, they said, with a .22 pistol, robbed the store and shot Maria Rios-Reyes in the head in a panic when she grabbed the phone to call 911.

"Some friends then came and picked him up, and they went to Pizza Hut, then drove up to Monroe, and then back that night," said Pageland police Chief Larry Brown.

During those hours after the crime, Brown said Rivers told his friends what had happened, but they did not go to police. That's why on Thursday Elontea Meadows, Mitchell Meadows and Cordarius Robinson were charged as accessories after the fact.

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Rivers is well known in Pageland. He's the son of the couple that owns Rivers Graphics downtown. In fact, that store is a stone's throw from Tienda Mexicana.  

Priscilla Raley Covington works at a salon next to the print shop.

"It's unbelievable. Knowing him, you would never think that," she said. "They are great parents and great people."

Mack Nicholson fitted Rivers for his prom suit last year. The violence that happened outside his door baffles him.

"I know those people. I just can't believe it.  He was a real nice young man," he said.

Lynn Deese, who works at the cafe next door, was terrified after the shooting Sunday night and called police to help her because she felt so unsafe downtown.

"We've been having the law come and escort us in every morning," Deese said. "It was scary."

The store manager reported that between $4,000 and $5,000 was taken in the robbery at Tienda Mexicana. Police said Rivers spent some the money from the robbery on beer and cocaine. They did not recover any of it, but did find the .22, which belonged to his father.