Two charged in South Carolina drive-by killing of 13-year-old boy

A South Carolina sheriff’s office has charged two Pageland residents in the drive-by shooting that killed 13-year-old Jacob Duncan, ending a two-year, five-month investigation that left his family and neighbors waiting for answers. Chesterfield County authorities announced Wednesday, July 1, 2026, that Caleb Garcia, 23, faces murder, possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime, breach of peace of a high and aggravated nature, and seven counts of first-degree assault and battery.

Amber B. Moree, 21, was arrested and charged with accessory after the fact of murder, misprision, and obstruction of justice. Sheriff Cambo Streater said the investigation is not over and that additional charges are expected.

Investigators say Duncan was struck by gunfire on Friday, Jan. 26, 2024, while he was near his home on Bennett Road southeast of Pageland, in Chesterfield County. Authorities say the bullet was not meant for him. At the time, family members and friends outside the home heard shots, ducked for cover, and then realized Jacob had been hit. In earlier accounts of the shooting, investigators said he was in or near a storage building beside the residence or on the front porch when he was struck.

Garcia was already incarcerated in North Carolina, where he is serving a sentence for attempted murder tied to a separate shooting in Union County seven days after Duncan’s death. The sheriff’s office said arrangements will be made for him to answer the South Carolina charges later. The Chesterfield County Sheriff’s Office said the case was worked with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, with help from the Union County Sheriff’s Office in North Carolina.

The long delay has defined the case for Duncan’s family and for the small Pageland area, where unanswered questions lingered even after the sheriff’s office offered a $2,500 reward for information and said someone in the community knew what happened. Streater said the case weighed heavily on Duncan’s loved ones and on the community. “A child should never lose their life to violence that was never meant for them,” he said.

For Jacob Duncan’s family, the arrests mark the first major break since the killing. For investigators, they show that a case once stalled by time and silence has now produced charges that could put the shooting and its aftermath before a court.