Crime
Jayden Jefferies Charged with Murder in Fatal Shooting of Sean Davis at Pageland Watermelon Festival
PAGELAND, S.C. — Authorities have arrested and charged a 17-year-old in connection with the fatal shooting of another teenager during the Pageland Watermelon Festival on Friday night.
Jayden Jeremiah Jefferies, a Chesterfield County resident, was taken into custody late Saturday and is charged with murder, possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime, and possession of a concealed weapon.
Jefferies was booked into the Chesterfield County Jail, where his bond was denied.
Due to the seriousness of the felony charges, Jefferies cannot be granted bond by a magistrate and will remain in custody until he appears before a circuit court judge during a future session of General Sessions Court.
According to South Carolina law, 17-year-olds charged with certain violent felonies—particularly those carrying potential sentences of 15 years or more—are automatically prosecuted as adults.
This was confirmed by Chesterfield County Chief Magistrate John Davis.
The victim has been identified as Sean Davis, a 17-year-old student-athlete at Central High School in Pageland.
Davis was a member of both the school’s football and track teams and was scheduled to run in the Watermelon Festival 5K event on Saturday morning.
Central High’s coaching staff and teams publicly mourned his loss on social media.
The fatal shooting occurred shortly before the festival’s opening night ended, near the intersection of McGregor and South Pearl Street, in the heart of downtown Pageland.
A crowd of teenagers had gathered in the area when gunfire erupted, sending dozens of people fleeing in panic.
The scene was just feet from the Pageland Police Department’s tent and within sight of multiple Chesterfield County Sheriff’s deputies assigned to festival security.
Emergency dispatchers received the first call for help around 10:41 p.m. Initially, first responders requested a medical helicopter to transport the critically injured teen from Pageland Airport.
However, they ultimately decided that the fastest option was to transport him by ambulance to a trauma center near Charlotte. Despite their efforts, Davis was pronounced dead before arriving at the hospital.
The Chesterfield County Coroner’s Office confirmed his death around midnight.
Crime scene investigators with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) arrived within the hour and worked into the early hours of Saturday morning.
Officers documented the scene, collected evidence from the location where the suspect allegedly fired the weapon, and from where the victim collapsed.
At the time of the shooting, investigators had not publicly identified a suspect.
The Pageland Police Department released a brief statement confirming the fatal incident and offering condolences, with Chief Dean Short stating, “This is a heartbreaking event that deeply impacts our entire community.”
The Town of Pageland canceled the remainder of the Watermelon Festival out of respect for the victim and his family, asking the community to “support one another during this difficult time.”
The investigation is now being led by SLED, with further updates expected as the case progresses.
Crime
Mustapha Kharbouch Now-Deleted 2024 Manifesto Published in Institute for Palestine Studies Recovered
Brown University has removed multiple online references to student activist Mustapha Kharbouch in the days following a deadly campus shooting, a move that has drawn public attention amid heightened online speculation—despite law enforcement officials confirming that no suspects or persons of interest have been identified in the investigation.
Archived versions of Brown University webpages show that Kharbouch, a first-year student at the time, was previously listed in several university-affiliated roles, including as a student assistant and Cultural Programming Coordinator connected to the Global Brown Center.
His academic interests were described as focusing on International and Public Affairs and Anthropology, with involvement in Middle East–focused academic, cultural, and student programming.
Those pages are no longer accessible, and Kharbouch’s social media accounts have also been deactivated.
A verified buyer from the United States with the name “Mustapha K.” reviewed a 9MM muzzle brake through the Wing Tactical website on December 29th, 2024 — the same caliber used in the Brown shooting.
There are approximately a few hundred people in the entire United States with that first name + last initial combination.
University officials have not issued a public explanation for the removal of the online profiles.
The changes occurred as online speculation intensified in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, with social media users circulating screenshots of archived university pages and past writings associated with Kharbouch.
Among the materials resurfaced by online users was a 2024 essay authored by Kharbouch and published by the Institute for Palestine Studies as part of a special student essay series titled Genocide in Gaza: Student Essays — Brown University Encampment 2024.
The essay, titled “I Hear the Voice of My Ancestors Calling: From the Camps to the Campus,” was published on August 13, 2024, months before the shooting. The piece is a first-person reflective essay examining Palestinian identity, intergenerational memory, student activism, and questions of hope amid displacement, war, and protest.
The article includes poetic excerpts adapted from “Ancestors Song,” a chant popularized during student-led Palestine solidarity actions at Brown University, and documents Kharbouch’s participation in campus organizing efforts, including sit-ins, hunger strikes, rallies, and the Brown Gaza Solidarity Encampment.
The essay situates these experiences within a broader discussion of decolonial thought, feminist theory, and Palestinian history, including reflections on the 1948 Nakba and the author’s family history as a third-generation stateless Palestinian refugee raised in Lebanon.
The content of the essay is ideological, autobiographical, and academic in nature.
There is no reference to violence on campus, nor any indication of intent or planning related to criminal activity.
The Institute for Palestine Studies has not issued any statement suggesting the piece is under review or connected to the shooting.
Despite widespread online conjecture, law enforcement agencies, including the FBI and Providence Police, have not named Mustapha Kharbouch as a suspect or person of interest, and have publicly stated that there is no evidence linking him to the shooting.
Investigators have emphasized that the case remains active and that conclusions are being guided strictly by verified evidence.
Authorities have cautioned against drawing inferences from online speculation, warning that unsubstantiated claims can compromise investigations and cause undue harm to individuals not implicated by facts.
Media analysts and campus observers have suggested that Brown University’s decision to remove online references may have been taken as a protective or precautionary measure, particularly as misinformation and harassment proliferated across social media platforms following the attack.
Similar actions have been taken by institutions in other high-profile incidents to limit doxxing, targeted harassment, or the misinterpretation of publicly available biographical information during periods of heightened tension.
Brown University has not confirmed whether the removals were temporary, administrative, or safety-related in nature.
Authorities continue to urge the public to rely on confirmed information released by law enforcement and to avoid amplifying unverified narratives.
As of the most recent update, no arrests have been announced, no individuals have been publicly identified as suspects, and the investigation remains ongoing.
Anyone with credible information related to the shooting has been asked to contact investigators directly.