A Florida man is in custody in Dorchester County after an early-morning shooting at a Summerville apartment complex left one person injured and prompted a hospital-side lifesaving effort by responding deputies.
Demetrius Levar Taylor, 25, of Vero Beach, Fla., is charged with attempted murder, first-degree burglary, domestic violence of a high and aggravated nature, possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime, and unlawful neglect of a child, the Dorchester County Sheriff’s Office said.
Deputies were called to Cambridge Apartments at 559 Orangeburg Road at about 2 a.m. on Sept. 8. When they arrived, deputies found one person with a gunshot wound and immediately began performing lifesaving aid at the scene before the victim was transported to a hospital for continued treatment.
Investigators identified Taylor as a suspect within hours, and he surrendered later that morning at the Summerville Police Department. Dorchester County deputies then took custody of Taylor and booked him into the L.C. Knight Detention Center, where he was being held on the multiple felony counts.
The Sheriff’s Office said the Cambridge Apartments incident was unrelated to a separate shooting reported off Ladson Road in Dorchester County the same night. In that Ladson Road case, deputies responded to a home at about 10:34 p.m. Monday and found three people with injuries, including one with a gunshot wound. All three were taken to a local hospital with injuries described as non-life-threatening, and the Dorchester County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division is leading that separate investigation.
The domestic-violence and child-neglect counts against Taylor indicate that at least one child was present or otherwise involved when the shooting occurred at the Cambridge Apartments unit, though the Sheriff’s Office has not publicly detailed the relationship between Taylor and the person who was shot or the number of children who were at the residence. Under South Carolina law, first-degree burglary alone carries a possible sentence of 15 years to life if the case proceeds to conviction.
The investigation into the Cambridge Apartments shooting remains active and ongoing, the Sheriff’s Office said. Anyone with information that could assist deputies has been asked to contact the Dorchester County Sheriff’s Office directly.
