One of the men jailed in connection with the events leading to a fatal shooting last week outside a North Charleston Olive Garden was the first to call 911 and frantically ask for help as his younger brother bled in the back of a vehicle.
Released Monday, the 911 calls provided more details about the shooting just before 6:30 p.m. Friday in the restaurant parking lot near Northwoods Mall. Derrick Roper, 15, has been identified as the shooting victim in what investigators called an apparent drug deal.
Roper’s brother, Deshone Bernard Rivers, 19, of Richmond Street in Charleston told 911 dispatchers that he didn’t know what happened and begged for them to send officers. His voice was high-pitched, and he eventually hung up after getting frustrated with the dispatchers’ questions.
“I don’t know nothing about no weapons,” he said before the call cut off.
An Olive Garden customer who was helping Rivers called 911 later, and Rivers’ voice could still be heard, just as frenzied, in the background. The woman told the dispatcher that Roper was breathing but had been shot in the arm and was bleeding in the backseat of a vehicle.
The woman, who said she didn’t know the group, said she also got photos of the suspect vehicle that fled.
Another restaurant customer also called with the tag number of the vehicle, which North Charleston police said they were still looking for Monday.
“I just got done eating dinner, and I just witnessed a fight,” the man said. “Two people, like two carloads of people fighting, and then shots were fired, and when they both took off, there was a bunch of blood. But I grabbed the (license) plate for you.”
An incident report released Monday stated that there was a large pool of blood in a parking space outside the Olive Garden and several pieces of marijuana scattered around. There was also one spent shell casing and one live round, the report states.
Police said suspects fled in a burgundy 2004 Saturn Ion with the South Carolina license plate EFV985. They released a photo of the car Monday.
Calvin Dennis Benekin Jr., 22, of Wolverine Drive in North Charleston was arrested Saturday on a murder charge, and a second murder warrant was issued for Jamal S. Drayton, 22, of Pinewood Drive in Summerville. He had not yet been arrested Monday. Benekin is being held at the Charleston County jail.
Tyler Linwood White, 20, of Bonaparte Drive in North Charleston, was arrested Friday near the scene of the shooting. He was running from the Olive Garden after the incident, and when police caught up with him, they found him in possession of more than $2,000 in cash, two digital scales, 35 grams of marijuana and a pill bottle containing Xanax, according to the report.
White, who was charged with possession with intent to distribute marijuana, is believed to have been involved with the drug transaction with Rivers and Brittney Wall, 23, of Woodstock Avenue in North Charleston.
Rivers and Wall were charged with conspiracy to violate narcotics laws. White, Rivers and Wall each posted bail.
Anyone with information about the suspect vehicle or Drayton is asked to call detectives at 843-822-1082.
Dave Munday contributed to this report. Reach Melissa Boughton at 843-937-5594 or at Twitter.com/mboughtonPC.