Man sentenced to 35 years in SCDC for attempted murder on O’Neil Court
March 4, 2025
On Feb. 28, a Richland County jury convicted 32-year-old Jaquan King of two counts of attempted murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime. The Honorable Heath P. Taylor sentenced King to 30 years in the South Carolina Department of Corrections for both counts of attempted murder in addition to a consecutive five-year sentence for possession of a weapon during a violent crime.
During the five-day trial, the jury heard testimony from witnesses regarding the shooting that occurred on Aug. 1, 2021, in the parking lot of Tsubaki Restaurant Lounge at 224 O’Neil Ct. That evening, King waited by his car in the parking lot as the victims’ families walked to their vehicles following the male victim’s birthday dinner.
A verbal dispute began after King and his friends made disrespectful comments toward the male victim’s female family member, following which King went to his car to retrieve a gun. As people attempted to diffuse the situation, King shot the female victim in her chest and the male victim in his neck and thigh before fleeing the scene in his car. Both victims survived the shooting.
A witness at the crime scene photographed the car King fled in. Richland County Sheriff’s Department (RCSD) investigators traced the vehicle to the defendant. Based on King’s connection to the car and witnesses’ physical descriptions of the shooter, RCSD identified King as the shooter, and law enforcement arrested him.
The Fifth Judicial Circuit Solicitor’s Office, represented by Assistant Solicitor Stephanie Taylor, Senior Assistant Solicitor Dale Scott, and Assistant Solicitor Nick Fowler, prosecuted the case.