Vigil to honor slain mother of 4

Kimberly Jones

ST. STEPHEN — The shooting of a young mother of four in her apartment last week will bring this small town together tonight to remember her with a candlelight vigil.

Kimberly Jones, 24, was hit by bullets fired from outside the apartment where she was sleeping early Thursday.

Her family hopes the 7 p.m. service for her at Timberland High School will be a wake-up call so violence doesn't strike this small town again.

Among those planning to speak tonight are Mayor Bobby Hoffman.

"Anybody should be able to lay their head down at night and not worry about waking up in the morning. You want to know why, especially in such a small community," Hoffman said during a phone interview.

At least a dozen bullets struck around a window at Jones' home in the Foxcreek Apartments at 260 Ravenell Drive about 2 a.m. Her boyfriend and a child sleeping with her were unharmed. Bullets pierced the wall of another bedroom where her three other children were sleeping, but they were not injured.

St. Stephen police are investigating with help from the Berkeley County Sheriff's Office. No information about suspects had been released as of Tuesday. Earlier, Police Chief John Waters said the bullets were fired from a rifle and a handgun in the parking lot and another spot near the window.

Though violence in St. Stephen is rare, Jones' killing came less than a year after the beating death of 7-year-old Ta'Mya Grant in her family's home on Welch Street. Nobody has been charged in that killing, though investigators did charge the girl's mother with unlawful conduct in April.

Jones' family has set up a fund to help pay for burial costs through Gethers Funeral Home. The funeral home also will accept donations for the children, whose ages range from 5 months to 5 years.

"We're trying to reach the younger ones and a lot of the parents," said Jones' mother, Margaret Jones-McGill. "A lot of the violence starts in the home."

She said she has no idea why anybody would have targeted her daughter.

"My main concern right now is to make sure my daughter has a decent burial," she said. Afterward, she said, she will focus on looking after her grandchildren and seeking justice.

Reach Noah Haglund at 937-5550 or nhaglund@postandcourier.com.