ORANGEBURG, S.C. — A 19-year-old Orangeburg man has been found guilty of the murder of another teen two years ago.
The First District Circuit Solicitor's Office announced on Thursday that Kari Kayshon Ryant, now 19 years old, was found guilty of murder in less than an hour of deliberations by the jury.
Prosecutors said that, in May of 2020, 17-year-old Naja Sanders was found lying on the edge of the road on Whitman Street near Plywood Street in the city of Orangeburg with a gunshot wound to the back of the head.
A passerby who noticed the body alerted the police who quickly began their investigation. They spoke with Sanders' mother who said she had last seen her son leaving home with Ryant several hours prior to his body being discovered.
And while Ryant turned himself in on the same night for questioning about the murder, he claimed the two were no longer in the same area when Sanders was shot. He also claimed that he only learned about the shooting from phone calls and text messages after the fact.
However, videos of both teens at the scene of the shooting which showed the moment Sanders was shot and when Ryant ran countered his claims. Prosecutors also said Ryant had searched how to remove gunshot residue hours after the murder but before he turned himself in.
While convicted, the judge in the case said Ryant will not be sentenced until January 2023.
