Lancaster County arrests six in robbery and shooting death from earlier this month
Full press release below from Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office
The Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a shooting that left a woman dead on Riverside Road. A little before midnight last night, Friday, May 2, 2025, deputies were dispatched to the 3000 block of Riverside Road where they found the victim, a 40-year-old female, behind the wheel of her 2021 Honda Accord deceased from an apparent gunshot wound. Earlier in the evening the victim left her home nearby headed to Rock Hill. She was alone. Family members lost contact with the victim, began searching, and found her in her car.
The coroner was summoned to the scene. An autopsy will be scheduled. An investigator with the Lancaster County Multijurisdictional Violent Crime Task Force arrived and began interviewing witnesses. Crime scene investigators documented and collected evidence. The victim’s car was towed for processing.
“This investigation is just beginning, and we have multiple personnel interviewing witnesses, collecting evidence, and running down leads to determine what happened on Riverside Road last night,” said Sheriff Barry Faile. “If anyone saw or heard anything or knows anything that might be related to this shooting, please contact us immediately. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victim’s family and friends during this difficult time.”
Update May 12, 2025
Three adults have been arrested, and three juveniles have been detained in connection with the shooting death of Larisha Sharell Thompson on Riverside Road last Friday night, May 2, 2025.
Earlier in the week, Wednesday, April 30, deputies were dispatched to the Van Wyck Mart, 644 Rock Hill Highway, Lancaster, at 7:56 a. m. to investigate a burglary. The owner of the store told deputies his video surveillance showed several young men trying to get into the store at 10:30 the night before. They were unsuccessful entering the commercial area of the business but did break open a door on the northwest corner of the building which opened into a bathroom from which the store was inaccessible. During the burglary, a handgun was fired at and damaged a surveillance camera and the bathroom door. An investigator and crime scene agents responded and collected evidence, including ballistics evidence.
The Van Wyck Mart is not too far from the 3000 block of Riverside Road where Ms. Thompson’s body was found inside her car in the roadway. Ballistics evidence was also recovered from that scene. Investigators sent the ballistics evidence from both scenes to the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED), where a forensic examiner determined the same 9 mm handgun was used in both incidents. Investigators also used digital evidence and surveillance video to identify Asael Aminadas Torres-Chirinos, age 21, of Lancaster, as being present during both crimes. His white 2024 Honda Civic was also linked to both crimes.
Early last Thursday morning Torres-Chirinos was taken into custody at his home as deputies, investigators, and the Special Weapons and Tactics Team (SWAT) served a search warrant at the home. During the search, investigators recovered a 9 mm pistol which was also taken to SLED. A forensic examiner determined the pistol fired the ballistic evidence from both incidents, the burglary on Rock Hill Highway and the homicide on Riverside Road.
Torres-Chirinos was questioned at the sheriff’s office Thursday, as were other people with knowledge of the two cases. By the end of the day, five other suspects were identified, located, detained, and questioned at the sheriff’s office. All live in the Lancaster area. Investigators were able to determine that all six were present and participated in the burglary and in the homicide. Three are adults, and three are juveniles. The adults were booked into the Lancaster County Detention Center, and the juveniles were transported to
a Department of Juvenile Justice detention center. The adults are Torres-Chirinos, Jarby Ardon Ramos-Odari, age 18, and Jeyson Sobied Pineda-Salgado, age 17. Each is charged in arrest warrants with Murder, Attempted Armed Robbery, and Burglary Second Degree. Torres-Chirinos is believed to have fired the pistol during both incidents. He is also charged with two counts of Possession of a Firearm during the Commission of a Violent Crime and one count of Possession of a Firearm by an Unlawful Alien. Bond was denied for all three, and they remain in the detention center. Their photographs are attached.
The three juveniles were charged on Department of Juvenile Justice petitions with Murder, Attempted Armed Robbery, and Burglary Second Degree. They remain detained and will have detention hearings before a Family Court judge this week. One is 15 years old, another is 14, and the third is 13. Their names and photographs will not be released because they are juveniles charged in family court.
All six of those arrested or detained are subject to removal from the United States under federal immigration law based upon their immigration status. The United States Department of Homeland Security has placed immigration detainers on them with the Lancaster County Detention Center and the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice.
After reviewing all the information gathered in the homicide investigation, investigators believe Ms. Thompson was the random victim of a robbery attempt. The evidence indicates all six suspects were in Torres-Chirinos’ car. Torres-Chirinos was in the front passenger seat armed with his pistol. The Torres-Chirino Civic pulled near Ms. Thompson’s Accord as she drove on Riverside Road, and Torres-Chirinos opened fire at the Accord, striking Ms. Thompson and killing her. Her Accord came to a stop in the roadway, and several of the occupants of the Civic attempted unsuccessfully to enter Ms. Thompson’s Accord, but the doors were locked. The suspects then fled the scene in the Civic.
This investigation continues, but no other suspects are being sought.
“This shooting defies any sense of decency in a civilized society,” said Sheriff Barry Faile. “Ms. Thompson was going about her business on a Friday night, not bothering anyone. All of a sudden these six men and boys, out to get something for nothing from someone they did not know and had no business bothering, pulled alongside her car, and Torres-Chirinos opened fire, killing Ms. Thompson. There’s no place in our society for
acts like this or the people who commit them, and my hope is these six are never again among us.”
Sheriff Faile, investigators, and Solicitor Randy Newman met with members of Ms. Thompson’s family late last Thursday. “They are grieving and trying to get their heads around how something like this could happen,” said Sheriff Faile. “We explained what we know about the investigation and these young men. We continue to pray for this family and those who knew and loved Ms. Thompson.”
All six charged are subject to removal proceedings from the United States. “The Department of Homeland Security has placed detainers on these six,” said Sheriff Faile. “That doesn’t mean the federal government will scoop them up and send them out of the country before their cases are heard in court. It simply means if for any reason any one or more of them becomes eligible for release before their charges are resolved in court, Homeland Security will take custody of them and they will not be back out on the street. Our intention is that all six remain detained until they face the full weight of our judicial system.”
Finally, Sheriff Faile stressed the importance of a prompt and thorough response and cooperation among agencies for incidents like this. “We activated our entire investigations division to solve this case,” said Sheriff Faile. “They worked continuously from the time we received the call until all six suspects were in custody Thursday. They collected evidence using multiple tools at our disposal, and they reached out to other agencies like SLED and Homeland Security to do things we can’t. We started with very little, but before the end of the week one piece of evidence led to many others and a complete picture of what occurred. I can’t thank the men and women of the sheriff’s office and the other assisting agencies enough.”
(All defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.)
