Hoyt Mitchell Jennings, 47, was killed in a shooting in the late afternoon of February 8, 2026. He was found outside a home in the 100 block of Villa Court in West Columbia with a gunshot wound to his upper body; the Lexington County Coroner’s Office pronounced him dead at the scene and the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department launched a homicide investigation around 4:40 p.m.

One person was detained in connection with the shooting, though authorities have not released an identity. Investigators have said they do not believe there is an ongoing threat to the public, and the circumstances leading up to the fatal shooting remain under investigation by the sheriff’s department and the coroner’s office.

Jennings was remembered in his obituary as a loving husband and father who enjoyed reading, music (from classic rock to gangster rap), animals, watching the Atlanta Braves and the Gamecocks, horror movies and trips to the pool, and who worked for decades at a rock quarry. If anyone has information about what happened on Villa Court that afternoon, please come forward to law enforcement.