The State du lieu suivant : Columbia, South Carolina • A3

THURSDAY JULY 9 2020 3ALocalTHESTATE.COM FACEBOOK.COM/THESTATENEWS TWITTER.COM/THESTATE A search is underway for a teenager wanted on a murder charge after the Lexington County Sher- Department said he shot a man at a party. The department is asking for the help in locating Keyshaun Alfred Muller. The 19-year-old Gaston resident is facing charges of murder, assault and battery of a high and ag- gravated nature, and pos- session of a weapon dur- ing a violent crime, the department said Wednesday in a news release. The shooting happened at a party on June 25, according to the re- lease. Mull- er was argu- ing with Trayon Newhouse in front of a home on Minolta Drive when he shot and killed him, the depart- ment said.

near the intersection of Charleston Highway and U.S. 321. The depart- ment said Newhouse was not armed and did not provoke the 28-year-old Muller before the shoot- ing, which also injured a child. The toddler did not suffer life-threatening injuries after he was shot in the lower body, accord- ing to the depart- ment. Further information on the condition was not available.

have been looking for Muller since we obtained arrest warrants on him late last Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon said in the release. need help from the community to locate and arrest him. Someone knows where he is and can put us right on his Anyone with informa- tion is asked to call 911 or report it to CrimeStoppers at 888-CRIME-SC or submit an online tip. know some people might be uneasy about helping us find and arrest Koon said. can assure everyone that shar- ing tips through Crime- stoppers is always anony- mous.

Nobody has a way to track your name, your phone number or your location. Even if you end up getting paid for a tip, all done anonymous- A second shooting hap- pened in the subdivision while the investigation on Minolta Drive was under- way, according to a news release. Taiquon Javante Wil- liams, 23, fired a rifle multiple times toward a house in the 200 block of Nikon Circle, according to detectives. Williams was arrested in the subdivision a short time later and was charged with attempted murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime, according to the release. Noah Feit: 803-771-8435, Teen wanted for murder in shooting at party, sheriff says BY NOAH FEIT Keyshaun A.

Muller COLUMBIA, SC Dueling events at the S.C. State House will mark the five-year anniversary of the removal of the Con- federate flag on Friday and Saturday. On Friday, five years to the day after the Confed- erate battle flag was re- moved from the State House grounds after a two-thirds vote by the Legislature, the grounds will be split between sup- porters and opponents of the banner. In the morning, the State House Monument Honour Guard will gather on the Gervais Street side of the State House from 8 to 11:45 a.m., followed by an event from the Colum- bia Racial Justice Coali- tion from 1:15 to 5 p.m., according to event permits issued by the S.C. Depart- ment of Administration.

Observances continue on Saturday, when the group Flags Across the South will fly the flag again from a temporary flagpole near the Confed- erate Soldiers Monument from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. The schedule follows a pattern established last year, when a handful of flag supporters gathered early on July 10 after the racial justice pred- ecessor, Showing Up for Racial Justice, reserved the State House grounds for most of the day in order to prevent any pro-flag rally from being held on the anniversary itself. This year, the dueling groups submitted simulta- neous requests to reserve the grounds on July 10, so the area was split through- out the day between flag supporters and opponents, said Laura Nicklin, the organizer for the racial justice coalition. Due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, Nicklin said the event will be more low key than last year, when several differ- ent progressive groups set up tables outside the State House.

She expects a smaller, socially distanced turnout with no set agen- da, although Nicklin said she hopes people will come out as long as they wear masks and practice social distancing. did not invite other groups just because of the Nicklin said. conscious of CO- VID-19, so we really want to encourage people to come out. noth- ing really formal Nicklin said the same group will be out early Friday to protest the event by the Monument Honour Guard. Organizer Mat- thew Locke declined to talk to The State about any plans for that event.

The anniversary of the flag removal has become a flash point since the flag was taken down in 2015, after a white supremacist from Columbia shot and killed nine people in a historically Black church in Charleston. The flag had flown from a pole beside the soldiers monu- ment along Gervais Street as part of a 2000 compro- mise that removed the flag from the dome of the S.C. State House, where the Confederate flag had been displayed since 1962. Past events have fea- Confederate flag rally, protests converge at SC State House BY BRISTOW MARCHANT JASON CLARK In this undated file photo, Mitchell Black, 10, of Lexington carries a Confederate flag during the observance of Confederate Memorial Day at Elmwood Cemetery. A Confederate flag rally and protests will converge at the S.C.

State House on Friday and Saturday. SEE FLAG, 6A COLUMBIA, SC Thousands of boaters paraded on Lake Murray over the Fourth of July holiday weekend to show their support for President Donald Trump. The catalyst was a Face- book group set up to sup- port Trump. Organizer Jason Cline, a Chapin native, put out the call for supporters of the president to turn out for the parade. But even he was surprised by the number of people who turned out for the event Sunday.

had boats there from 11 states and every county in South Cline said. photog- rapher said he found a boat all the way from Cline called it a new world record, with 3,417 boats in the parade, and maybe close to 4,000 individual people onboard. The boats, decked out with American and Trump campaign flags, took off from Dreher Island Bridge and continued past the Lake Murray Dam to Susie Ebert Island. Inspiration for the event came from some fellow boaters who take part in another Trump-themed boating parade in Char- leston Harbor over the Memorial Day weekend, Cline said, so he created a Facebook event page that quickly attracted more than 2,000 who clicked and word of mouth spread quickly through social media. Cline said organizers were able to determine the number of vessels in the parade using aerial photographs taken from a helicopter.

The event got Cline some national media attention, and even earned him a shout out from Eric Trump when the son tweeted footage of the parade. Turnout for the event demonstrates that even at a time when Trump is trailing in several national polls against former Vice President Joe Biden, the president maintains strong support in deep red states such as South Carolina. silent majority still supports the president and loves America, and Sun- turnout is a prime said Cline, who otherwise says not very politically active. not planning any other Trump-themed events this year, but others at the lake this weekend asked him to host another parade. this will be- come an annual he said.

not going to be a Trump parade if Joe Biden is president, but we can still have a Bristow Marchant: 803-771-8405, JASON CLINE Boaters take part in a Lake Murray parade in support of President Donald Trump on July 5. Trump boat parade on Lake Murray draws thousands BY BRISTOW MARCHANT South Carolina is start- ing to locate many of the children whom schools have not heard from since the beginning of the coro- navirus pandemic, state data show. As of July 7, schools have been able to reach 5,654 more students than last month, in which schools reported being unable to reach a total of 16,085 students since in-person classes were closed on March 16, ac- cording to survey data and a previous article from The State. people have been identified through the meal S.C. Superintendent of Educa- tion Molly Spearman told lawmakers at a Wednes- day State House subcom- mittee meeting on chil- services and per- sonal protective equip- ment (PPE).

not turning in their homework but coming out to pick up their important for schools to have contact with a student especial- ly while educators are working remotely during coronavirus because it allows teachers to identify abuse, neglect, mental health issues and students who are falling behind in class. Students have fallen off the grid for many reasons, including: students know- ing they be punish- ed during the coronavirus for not completing assign- ments, poor internet con- nection, outdated contact information, sick relatives, language barriers and more, according to the S.C. Department of Education. hope districts are hearing from us the im- portance of these students being said S.C. Sen.

Thomas Alexan- der, R-Oconee, who sits on the subcommittee. Schools have been able to contact 98.7% of the 782,638 public school students throughout the state, but even when they reach 1.3% of stu- dents, that still leaves over 10,000 students unac- counted for. still have a lot of kids out there to said S.C. Sen. Katrina Shealy, R-Lexington, who chairs the subcommittee.

Officials began keeping these data during the coronavirus pandemic, so it is unclear what percent- age of students schools are normally unable to be in touch with. However, it is clear that during a normal school year, students still struggle with showing up to class and with their home lives, according to data present- ed by Spearman. For example, during a normal school year, more than 70,000 (roughly students statewide are listed as truant, mean- ing they missed three, consecutive unallowed days or five unallowed days total, Spearman said. Perhaps more concerning is the number of students who are considered home- less: 12,660 roughly 1,000 of which are in Richland County, Spear- man said. Both Spearman and S.C.

Sen. Dick Harpootlian, D-Richland, who sits on the committee, said they were at the number of homeless chil- dren. Tracking down students whom schools have not heard from involves mul- tiple different methods and government agencies. At the school level, it in- volves calling, emailing and sending resource officers to a last known address and check- ing a social media account, according to the education depart- ment. The S.C.

Department of Social Services is begin- ning to collect data on which students schools heard from by asking each district to fill out a spreadsheet with the names and last known addresses of students, Connelly-Anne Ragley of DSS testified during the committee meeting. DSS then cross-refer- ences the list of children in the care such as the 4,235 children in foster care the list provided by the school districts so DSS can put the schools in touch with the children, Ragley said. Children in poverty are especially prone to not being in touch with their schools, Kathy Maness, the executive director of the Palmetto State Teach- ers Association, testified before the committee. She cited a survey done by the teachers association that said teachers who teach the highest poverty stu- dents were two and a half times as likely to not have heard from students, she said. One idea was to further incorporate law enforce- ment in tracking down students.

While law en- forcement agencies have received information about a student whom schools reach, the situation rarely rises to the level of crimi- nal suspicion necessary to conduct a wellness check, Jarrod Bruder, the director of the South Carolina Association, testi- fied before the subcom- mittee. know if there is neglect or abuse going on, and we investi- gate until we get that Bruder said. S.C. Sen. Gerald Malloy, D-Darlington, encouraged law enforcement agencies to form a partnership between a school district and the local office.

not looking to make a Malloy said. looking to find a the sheriff calls the superintendent not going to turn them Malloy said. Lucas Daprile: 803-771-8483, SC finds more kids who went silent amid virus BY LUCAS DAPRILE.