Pelion Man Accused of Shooting 16-Year-Old Girl

Deputies arrested a 24-year-old Pelion man Tuesday who they say fired shots at a pickup truck and hit a 16-year-old girl. 

Benton W. Chavis is charged with three counts of attempted murder, one count of discharging a firearm into a motor vehicle that is occupied and one count of possessing a weapon during the commission of a violent crime, according to the Lexington County Sheriff's Department.

Deputies say around 6:30 p.m. Chavis fired at least five shots from a handgun at a 1994 Chevrolet C-1500 pickup truck in which the 16-year-old girl was riding as a passenger. 

The 16-year-old was shot in the back, according to the sheriff's department. She was transported to Palmetto Health Richland where she was receiving treatment Wednesday.

The driver of the Chevrolet truck told deputies he saw Chavis and four or five other men walking in the road in the 100 block of Canal Drive, according to the sheriff's department. The driver asked them to get out of the roadway. 

One of the people in the group started yelling obscenities and firing shots at the truck, according to the sheriff's department. Witnesses identified Chavis as the man who fired the shots. 

Deputies later arrested Chavis at his home, according to the sheriff's department. He is being held at the Lexington County Detention Center and is scheduled for a bond hearing Wednesday.