.

Nine teenagers have been arrested in connection with the fatal shooting of a 16-year-old South Carolina youth earlier this month. The killing of Trey Dean Wright of Johnsonville began as a fight “over a girl,” but became deadly, authorities say, after several teens helped lure Wright to a meeting with 19-year-old Devan Scott Raper, who pulled a firearm and opened fire.

Florence County Sheriff’s Office deputies found the victim’s body at about 4 p.m. on June 24 along First Neck Road after having been called to the scene. Wright had been shot multiple times. He died at the scene of the shooting, which occurred in a rural area of the county along the road, which is about 45 miles west of Myrtle Beach. Raper, 19, of Conway, was arrested the next day after he allegedly pulled a gun and shot Wright in the course of an argument. He has since been charged as an adult with murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime and remains in custody without bond.

Sheriff’s officials alleged Raper and other teens recorded the June 24 shooting, which they say began as an argument between Wright and Raper, as a group video on a cell phone. The plan to ambush Wright at First Neck Road, authorities alleged, was set in motion by Raper and others in the hours before the shooting. Deputies announced charges against other teens over the weeks following the fatal shooting, and on June 27, Wright’s girlfriend, 17-year-old Gianna Kistenmacher of Myrtle Beach, was also arrested. She is accused of assisting in the murder plot and is also charged as an adult. Deputies with the sheriff’s office have not released further details of the ongoing investigation, and the prosecutor’s office declined to comment on the case to Fox News Digital.

According to Wright’s mother, Ashley Lindsey, the June 24 killing and subsequent arrest of her son’s girlfriend and several of his friends have been devastating. “All this court hearing and bond court and stuff is driving me crazy,” Lindsey said in an interview with Fox News Digital. “I don’t even have time to sit down and think half the time, on top of losing my precious baby.”

Nine Teens Arrested in Shooting Death of 16-Year-Old

The first of the additional arrests came on June 25, when authorities charged 18-year-old Hunter Kendall and 17-year-old Corrine Belviso in addition to Raper. Kendall, of Myrtle Beach, is charged as an adult with murder, while Belviso is also being charged with accessory before the fact. Kendall was taken into custody after his arrest and was held without bond. Belviso was released on a $20,000 surety bond after posting bond.

Two more teens were arrested the following day. Officials charged 17-year-old Sydney Kearns, also of Myrtle Beach, as an adult with accessory before the fact, and she too was released after a $20,000 surety bond. The next two arrests came on June 28, when 16-year-olds Alexis Ware and Charles Bramble of Conway were charged with accessory before the fact. No information on bail was available for those four teens. On June 27, Florence County Sheriff T.J. Joye said there were more arrests to come in the case.

Joye and officials with the sheriff’s office and District Attorney’s Office said the teens have been charged as adults in connection with the shooting, in part because they allegedly helped Raper arrange to ambush Wright at First Neck Road, where he waited with a loaded firearm and shot Wright multiple times. Authorities say the teens became increasingly violent in an argument that led up to the killing, and Raper allegedly pulled a firearm after threats he made to shoot Wright were not heeded.

South Carolina state law allows prosecutors to charge juveniles as adults for violent crimes such as murder, according to the Herald News in Rock Hill, S.C. Five of the teens were charged under the state’s adult crime statute. “The hand of one being the hand of all is part of South Carolina law as well, so that’s the basis of the charge for each of those individuals,” Florence County Sheriff’s Office Major Michael Nunn said.

Wright’s mother and grandmother told local news outlets that their lives have been upended by the death of their son and grandson, who was an honor student. His grandmother, Rhonda Ward, has since posted about his death and lamented how his life was cut short.

Deputies with the Florence County Sheriff’s Office, the agency that is investigating the case, have remained silent on the specifics of the case, and prosecutors have declined to comment on the matter. However, it is clear from social media posts by residents and the initial comments from officials and the victim’s family that the June 24 shooting of Trey Wright has left a family mourning the death of a young man. It has also raised questions about teen rivalries and how simple arguments, group pressure, and firearms can turn deadly.