Officials in Lancaster, South Carolina, have detained six undocumented individuals aged between 13 and 21 regarding the seemingly random murder on May 2 of a mother who was en route to see friends in Rock Hill.

Deputies from the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office found 40-year-old Larisha Sharrell Thompson dead, having suffered a gunshot wound, in her vehicle on Riverside Road in Lancaster, situated roughly an hour south of Charlotte, North Carolina.

On May 12, the authorities revealed the capture of three adults, namely Asael Aminadas Torres-Chirinos, 21; Jarby Ardon Ramos-Odari, 18; Jeyson Sobied Pineda-Salgado, 17; alongside three minors, aged 13, 14, and 15. These arrests are linked to Thompson’s murder and a different burglary that took place on April 30.

“This shooting defies any sense of decency in a civilized society,” Lancaster Sheriff Barry Faile said in a Monday statement. “Ms. Thompson was going about her business on a Friday night, not bothering anyone. All of a sudden, these six men and boys — out to get something for nothing from someone they did not know and had no business bothering — pulled alongside her car, and Torres-Chirinos opened fire, killing Ms. Thompson. There’s no place in our society for acts like this or the people who commit them, and my hope is these six are never again among us.”

Through digital surveillance, investigators also identified Torres-Chirinos, the 21-year-old suspect, at the scene of both crimes. They questioned him at the sheriff’s office on May 8, and by the end of that day, they had identified, located and detained the five additional suspects.

Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office deputies located Larisha Sharrell Thompson, 40, deceased with a gunshot wound behind the wheel of her vehicle on Riverside Road in Lancaster, which is located about an hour south of Charlotte, North Carolina. (Crawford Funeral Homes/ Google Maps)

The three adult suspects are charged with murder, attempted armed robbery and second-degree burglary. Authorities believe Torres-Chirinos fired the handgun in both incidents, and he is charged with two counts of firearms possession during the commission of a crime and one count of firearms possession by an unlawful alien. A judge denied bond for all three men.

The three juvenile suspects are also charged with murder, attempted armed robbery and second-degree burglary.

All six suspects are subject to removal from the United States under federal immigration law based on their immigration status, the sheriff’s office said. 

“The Department of Homeland Security has placed detainers on these six,” Faile said. “That doesn’t mean the federal government will scoop them up and send them out of the country before their cases are heard in court. It simply means if for any reason, any one or more of them becomes eligible for release before their charges are resolved in court, Homeland Security will take custody of them, and they will not be back out on the street. Our intention is that all six remain detained until they face the full weight of our judicial system.”

Thompson’s family is “grieving and trying to get their heads around how something like this could happen,” Faile added.