Anquante El-Malik Lemel Watts, suspect

(Note: Fort Mill Police said an earlier mugshot they sent to media was mistakenly identified as the suspect. The department blamed it on a computer-related error.)

The suspect wanted in connection with the Feb. 19 Circle K shooting incident surrendered Tuesday afternoon to the Fort Mill Police Department.

Anquante El-Malik Lemel Watts has been charged with murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a violent crime.

The York County Coroner’s Office identified the victim as 25-year-old Sy’Veon My’Veon Howard of Lancaster. 

The shooting happened around 11:15 p.m. Friday outside the Circle K convenience store, at 681 US Highway 21 Bypass. Officers found Howard on the ground with gunshot wounds. He was surrounded by a large group of people and was eventually rushed to Piedmont Medical Center in Rock Hill, where he later died.

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    The shots were fired at the victim from inside a gold Honda Accord, occupied by two subjects, a black male and black female, police say. Those subjects immediately fled from the area, driving west on Sutton Road toward Interstate 77.

A bond hearing for Watts is pending.


Greg "Ricky Bobby" Rickabaugh has lived in the Fort Mill and York County community since 2006. He has covered the area while a reporter for The Charlotte Observer and a freelance writer for The Fort Mill...