A social gathering in Summerville, South Carolina, on April 8, 2018, ended with 35-year-old Liam Owen Vernon shot and later dying at a hospital. Vernon, a White male, was at the home of his friend Wade David Williamson III when the shooting occurred in the early morning. Williamson called 911 around 7:20 a.m. to report the shooting and told dispatchers the two had been getting along that night until a sudden altercation in which he said Vernon struck him in the jaw and he shot in self-defense.

Berkeley County sheriff’s deputies found Vernon with three gunshot wounds. He was transported to a nearby hospital and pronounced dead. Investigators arrested Williamson a week later; the 34-year-old was charged with murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime. At a bond hearing on April 16, 2018, a judge denied bond pending a circuit court hearing.

The case centers on a fatal shooting between friends and conflicting accounts about what happened in the moments before the shots were fired. Anyone who was at the gathering or who has information about Vernon, Williamson, or the events that morning is asked to come forward.