17-year-old accused of shooting Upstate woman to death

GREENWOOD COUNTY, S.C. (WSPA) – A teenager has been charged as an adult for the murder of a woman who was found shot to death alongside a Greenwood road.

The Greenwood County Sheriff’s Office arrested 17-year-old Mon’Drikus Raphael Griffin, of Greenville, Tuesday in connection to the murder of 38-year-old Kasia Dierra Simmons, of Simpsonville.

On June 12, deputies located Simmons with at least one gunshot wound on Wilson Creek Road.

Investigators learned that Simmons and Griffin were acquaintances and were traveling together with another juvenile in Simmons’ car prior to the shooting.

While on Wilson Creek Road, Griffin allegedly shot Simmons while he and the other individual were exiting the vehicle.

It was reported that Griffin fled the scene in Simmons’s car.

Deputies said the stolen vehicle was recovered the next day in Greenwood behind a residence.

The sheriff’s office charged Griffin with murder, carjacking and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime.

He is currently being held at the Greenwood County Detention Center.

The Greenwood County Sheriff’s Office said Simmons’s death remains an ongoing investigation.

Anyone with information related to the incident is asked to contact the sheriff’s office at (864) 942-8600 or Crime Stoppers at 1-(888)-CRIME-SC.

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