Killing claims man named one of Charleston’s worst criminals

The man shot dead on Charleston’s East Side Thursday night was long considered one of the city’s worst criminals.

Charleston police named Solomon Chisolm to a list of its most hard-core offenders back in 2007 after a string of violent crimes. He more than lived up to the reputation, racking up three murder charges in less than four months during that period. Each time, he managed to avoid prison. Witnesses got scared or changed their stories and cases fell apart, authorities said.

Violence followed Chisolm as well. In June 2010, Chisolm was shot in the arm when a truck pulled up beside the car he was driving and pumped more than 30 rounds into the vehicle near the Bridgeview Apartments, police said.

His luck ran out Thursday night when a gunman shot him dead near the bleachers at Mall Playground on Columbus Street. People in the area reported hearing as many as five gunshots about 6:45 p.m. Chisolm died before paramedics could even whisk him to a hospital.

Investigators have just arrested Tyrel Rashone Collins, 24, of 40 America St. on charges of murder and possession of a firearm during a violent crime, police spokesman Charles Francis said. Detectives are still trying to determine a motive for the killing, he said.

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