Desmond Wilson was 17 when he was shot dead just after midnight on Easter Sunday, April 17, 2022, in Columbia, South Carolina. Deputies from the Richland County Sheriff’s Department found his body in the breezeway of an apartment building on Garners Ferry Road; he sustained a fatal gunshot wound and was pronounced dead at the scene.

A resident of Eastover, Wilson was remembered by family as quiet and humble; a cousin described him as a gentle giant with a big heart. Funeral services were held the following Friday at Antioch AME Zion Church.

The Richland County Sheriff’s Department and the county coroner opened a homicide investigation. No suspects have been publicly identified and no arrests have been announced; the motive remains unclear and the investigation is ongoing.

If anyone has information about what happened that night or saw activity near the Garners Ferry Road apartments around midnight on April 17, 2022, please contact investigators.