A year after the shooting, a South Carolina man is in prison charged with murder, sheriff says

A man incarcerated in a South Carolina prison has been charged with murder in connection with a shooting that occurred a year ago in which three people were shot and one of them died, the Fairfield County Sheriff's Office said.

On August 19, Marshawn Devon Geiger was officially arrested for the murder of Tyon D. Byrd, the sheriff's office said in a news release. Geiger was also charged with two counts of attempted murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime, the news release said.

The former Winnsboro resident is an inmate of the South Carolina Department of Corrections who is being held on other charges, the sheriff's office said.

The latest charges stem from a shooting that occurred on July 1, 2023, the press release said.

Byrd was one of the attendees of a birthday party at a home on Peach Road in the Greenbrier neighborhood of Fairfield County, the sheriff's office said. Shots were fired into a crowd and Byrd and two other people were struck by gunfire, the news release said.

All three were taken to area hospitals, where Byrd died, the sheriff's office said.

The other victims of the shooting suffered non-life-threatening injuries, according to the sheriff. Further information on the condition of the surviving victims was not available.

“We want to express our deepest condolences to the families and friends of Tyon Byrd and the other two victims,” ​​Sheriff Will Montgomery said in the press release. “This was a senseless tragedy and we know how much these families have suffered.”

Although no arrests were made immediately after the shooting, the sheriff's office said investigators continued to follow leads related to the shooting and were eventually able to identify Geiger as the shooter.

Geiger will appear before a judge in Fairfield County at a later date, the press release said.

Nothing was disclosed about the motive for the shooting, nor whether someone else fired the weapon.

“We are pleased that we were able to make an arrest as part of this investigation,” Montgomery said. “I want to thank the community members who have willingly spoken with our investigators to help us put all the pieces of this investigation together. Without the community partnerships that we have and are so proud of, it would be much more difficult to make progress on investigations like this.”

According to Fairfield County court records, Geiger previously pleaded guilty to breach of the peace (2022), assault (2019) and multiple counts of burglary (2017).