Community supports family of teen killed in shooting at Pageland Watermelon Festival

PAGELAND, S.C – A Chesterfield County community is uniting to support the family of a teenager who police say was shot and killed by his high school classmate.

17-year-old Sean Davis was shot multiple times in the chest Friday evening at the Watermelon Festival in town square. Court papers show 17-year old Jayden Jefferies has been charged with murder in the case. Both were students at Central High School in Pageland.

Dozens of people packed into Fox Place Grill on McGregor Street to purchase plates of food to support the Davis Family. Rob Petrucci, managing partner says 100% of the proceeds from the sales between 2pm-9pm Monday will go to the Davis family.

“I think it hurts us all, we are a small town,” Petrucci said. “Tragedies will not stop. It’s part of life. But I want people to be empowered enough to say, Let’s get together and do something to change that, or to address it, or to help.”

A memorial marks the spot where police say Davis was gunned down by Jefferies. Jefferies is now facing murder and weapons charges. He is being held without bond.

“It’s really two lives lost, one is lost physically, and the other lost his freedom, potentially for a very long time. It’s just heartbreaking, and just the whole town is coming together and praying for both families,” Kim Mangum, Central High School Softball Coach and Pageland Town Council member.

The shooting has sparked a conversation about safety at the annual festival.

“Main Street Pageland Director has already met with a lot of the volunteers just to go ahead and start thinking about further safety precautions for next year. It would be the 75th anniversary of the watermelon festival next year,” Mangum said.

Davis’ loved ones watched as an artist painted a mural in his memory on Pearl Street. Proceeds from fox place grill between will go to the Davis family.

“It’s not going to assuage the loss of their son, but if it can help them in any small way, we’ll be grateful that we’ve done something and all that we can to give them some aid in their time”

Teachers at Central High School are planning to wear shirts to remember Davis on the first day of school next month. There is a GoFundMe set up to support the family.