At the Pageland Watermelon Festival on July 18, 2025, 17-year-old Sean Avery Davis was fatally shot after a verbal dispute at the community event. A rising senior at Central High School, Davis was a standout athlete on the football team (number five) and a track competitor. First responders transported him to a trauma center, but he died en route and the remainder of the festival was canceled.

Authorities arrested 17-year-old Jayden Jeremiah Jefferies and charged him as an adult with murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime. Officials say Jefferies admitted to shooting Davis multiple times with a .22 caliber handgun and to discarding the firearm after fleeing the scene. Friends, teammates, and family held vigils, and Davis’s mother, Sharonda Davis, publicly expressed profound grief and called for an end to youth violence while offering forgiveness.

If anyone at the festival or who knew Sean or the people involved has information that could help clarify the sequence of events, please share it with investigators.