COLUMBIA, S.C. — Two arrests have been made in the death of a Columbia teen.
Sixteen-year-old, Julian Keel, a rising senior at Keenan High School, was shot and killed while attending a graduation party in June.
"We were robbed. This is not fair. We were robbed. If you know something, you've got to say something," Vonyetta Watson, Julian Keel’s mother, said.
Vonyetta Watson spoke to News19 shortly after her son was killed. She wanted answers in the death of her son Julian “JuJu” Keel.
Now, four months later, her pleas have been answered.
“I promise you we would clear this case. We would arrest those responsible for 'Juju's killing, and that's happened. I thank you for sticking beside us a long time,” Chief Skip Holbrook said.
Today, the Columbia Police Department announced that two people have been arrested in the case.
One is 20-year-old Tonie Wilson and the other is a 16-year-old juvenile. They are both being charged with murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime.
Officials say the investigation involved over 50 interviews, 10 search warrants and a thousand hours of work.
“Our crime scene techs collected more than 50 spent shell casings at the scene. Our investigators have seized four different firearms during the course of this investigation,” said Chief Holbrook.
Officials say one of the firearms was a 300-blackout assault rifle, which they believe is the murder weapon. Investigators tracked down the gun’s original buyer, who they say admitted to selling the weapon on the dark web. That part of the case is still under investigation.
“Shot Spotter technology also played a vital role in this investigation. It helped identify the original shots being fired'', said Chief Holbrook.
The chief mentioned that the arrests come after recent information gathered by their investigators.
Officials say that Julian was just a bystander, he was fatally shot while attempting to leave the party.
“Today's arrest brings closure to JuJu's killing, and it also represents all of our murders this year being solved,” said Chief Holbrook.
Officials say they anticipate additional arrests in the case.