Report: Columbia Mayor Calls for Review of Police Procedures

An independent panel is being formed to review law enforcement procedures following the death of 33-year-old Kelly L. Hunnewell, a mother of four children, according to a report from The State. 

Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin told the newspaper he will organize the review panel to recommend ways of keeping repeat offenders in jail among other tasks, according to the report. 

The creation of the panel comes after criticism by victims of other crimes allegedly committed by two of the three suspects accused of killing Hunnewell.

Columbia Police say Hunnewell was at work at a bakery located at 93 Tommy Circle when Lorenzo Bernard Young and Troy Christopher Stevenson, both 18, entered the store around 3:30 a.m.

Police say a neighbor reported hearing a woman screaming and gunshots being fired around the same time the suspects were in the bakery. 

Hunnewell was found dead inside the bakery after police were notified by a neighbor.

Both Young and Stevenson as well as a 16-year-old who police say stood watch outside are facing multiple charges including murder, attempted armed robbery and kidnapping. 

Read more at The State.