Ja’Niya Richburg was 18 and a senior at Loris High School when she was killed on the night of Tuesday, April 29, 2025. A standout athlete who became the first female player at her school to surpass 1,000 career points and 1,000 rebounds, she planned to attend the University of South Carolina on a pre-med track. Just before 11 p.m. she was at her boyfriend’s home on Horry Street in Conway when a bullet pierced a window and struck her; reports say she was hit by a stray bullet and was not the intended target.

Conway police investigated and on May 2, 2025 arrested 19-year-old Derrick Que’Shawn Ashley of Conway, charging him with her murder; he was booked into the J. Reuben Long Detention Center and held without bail. Authorities have not publicly established a motive and the investigation is ongoing.

Her coaches, teammates, family and community described her as a natural leader, an exemplary student with a bubbly, selfless personality. Did anyone in Conway see or hear anything that night that could help explain how a bullet came through that window?