A teen who was already out on bond on weapons charges when he was arrested after Saturday’s mass shooting at Meadowlake Park is heading back to jail.
Ty’Quan Kelly was ordered into custody Wednesday after the $10,000 bond issued following the Meadowlake Park attack was rescinded by Circuit Court Judge Robert Hood. The bond was revoked after a hearing at the Richland County Judicial Center.
The 18-year-old had been previously arrested on separate weapons charges on March 1 and April 16 and had been released on bond after those arrests. He now will be held at the Alvin S Glenn Detention Center.
Kelly was one of two teens arrested following the early Saturday shooting that turned a spontaneous after-prom party in the north Columbia park into a scene that Sheriff Leon Lott likened to a war zone. More than 50 shots were fired into the crowd, hitting nine people. One other person was injured after being struck by a car and another suffered an unspecified hand injury.
As deputies arrived at the scene, they witnessed a car with its headlights off speed away. As they gave chase, deputies say that they saw guns thrown from the car where Kelly was a passenger. Kelly was charged with the unlawful carrying of a pistol and possession of marijuana.
There is no indication yet whether Kelly, or the driver, Miquis Fulwiley, were involved in the shooting. But following their arrest Lott once again criticized the judicial system for allowing repeat offenders to receive bond.
“It’s terrible that I have to stand here and talk constantly about catch and release, catch and release.” Lott said at a news press conference Sunday. “That’s what we’ve already seen in this case. We haven’t even caught all the people involved in it yet, and we’re seeing those that we’ve already caught that are being released.”
A motion to revoke Kelly’s filed with the court by the Fifth Circuit solicitors office in advance of the hearing described Kelly as an “imminent danger to the community due to his succession of recent arrests and the nature of the charges pending against him.”
Kelly had had received a $2,500 for his March 1 arrest on weapons charges. Following his April 16 arrest, Kelly was charged with aggravated assault, possession of a stolen pistol and possession of a machine gun or a sawed-off shotgun or rifle. He received a $50,000 bond on those three charges, according to a court document.
He was also ordered to have no contact with the victim, whose identity was not specified.
“This is the third time that he has been caught with a gun, and he continuously gets out,” Lott said.