Crime & Safety

Man Wanted in Fatal West Columbia Shooting Arrested in NY

John Christopher Hart, 24, was arrested Thursday in New York.

A 24-year-old Columbia man wanted on a murder charge in the fatal shooting of a woman in West Columbia was arrested Thursday in Rome, New York. 

John Christopher Hart is being held at the Oneida County Correctional Facility in
Oriskany, N.Y. awaiting an extradition hearing to determine when he will be returned to Lexington County to face the murder charge, according to the Lexington County Sheriff's Department. 

Deputies say Hart traveled to Rome after shooting 43-year-old Paual Denise Justice in the upper torso on April 10 on Lumberjack Drive in West Columbia. 

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Another man, 20-year-old Tevin Xavier Deloach, was arrested earlier this week and also charged with murder in connection with the shooting. Deputies say Deloach drove Hart to Lumberjack Drive to meet Justice and later drove him to another loaction where they abandoned the car. 

Investigators later learned that Hart traveled to Rome and requested help from the Rome Police Department and the South Caorlina Law Enforcement Division locating him. 

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Lexington County detectives traveled to Oriskany Friday to question Hart about the fatal shooting. 

Deloach was denied bond and is being held at the Lexington County Detention Center.

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