Five suspects have been charged after a teenager was murdered in Jasper County over the weekend.
25-year olds Quaddarris Sumlin, Travis Bunch, Keyshad Donnell Arrington, and 21-year-old Jeremy McKenzie have been charged with first-degree murder after 18-year-old Mercedes Dudley was shot and killed in a car on Saturday.
22-year-old Marerria Granderson was arrested and charged with accessory after the fact to murder on Tuesday.
The four original suspects were also charged with aggravated assault after 18-year-old Rosalind Taylor was shot but suffered non-life threatening injuries.
Sheriff Randy Johnson said Dudley, Taylor and an unidentified man were riding in a vehicle when shots were fired into it; striking and killing Dudley. Bullets also wounded Taylor, and the third person inside the vehicle was not injured during the shooting.
Sheriff Johnson says there may have been gang-related activity involved in the case, but nothing has been determined and no solid motive has been found.
Sumlin, Bunch and Arrington were given a total bond of $275,000; $200,000 for the murder charge and $75,000 for the assault charge.
McKenzie’s bond was denied because of a previous indictment in Forrest County. Sheriff Johnson said that McKenzie claims to have no knowledge of the indictment, which was an accessory charge in a murder case.
