On the evening of December 3, 2021, 16-year-old Thaj Nance-Parker was shot in the chest in the parking lot of a McDonald’s on York Street in Aiken, South Carolina. A student at Aiken High School who also worked at the restaurant, he was taken to Aiken Regional Medical Centers but was pronounced dead a short time later. An autopsy found a single gunshot wound as the cause of death.

Investigators from the Aiken Department of Public Safety, the Aiken County Sheriff’s Office and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division developed the case over the following months. Authorities say Nance-Parker and 18-year-old Caleb Jaleil Johnson knew one another and had agreed to meet in the parking lot — reportedly to complete a sale — when the encounter turned violent. Officials described the shooting as the result of a botched robbery attempt; Johnson was arrested on February 15, 2022, and charged with murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a violent crime.

If anyone knew Thaj, saw him that evening, or has information about the meeting in the McDonald’s parking lot, please come forward.