Man Charged With Killing Former S.C. State Student in Parking Lot

Newberry County (WLTX)- An early morning shooting has left one Newberry County man dead, another shot in the arm, and a third in jail.

Newberry Sheriff Lee Foster says that deputies were called to a shooting incident at the Rutherford Club located on Highway 176 in Pomaria at 2:20 a.m. Saturday morning.

"There was a party going on and I was invited to it, but I was kinda skeptical about going," said Melina Hernandez, the victim's friend.

She says, she was skeptical because there is always a problem there.

Melina added, "There is so many shootings that go on there."

Sheriff Lee Foster said, "This club is not open all the time...they rent the club out whenever they have a party we're going there for something."

Foster said that deputies arrived and found 20-year-old Dominique Brown, of Newberry, dead from multiple gun shot wounds. Another victim, 20-year-old Chad Caldwell suffered a non-life threatening injury from a gunshot wound to the arm.

Brown was a former student at South Carolina State University, who was re-enrolling in January.

Melina remembers a friend saying, "Dominique was dead and I just started screaming and crying."

While officers were investigating the incident, a witness contacted Newberry County and told them that they saw a person getting into a vehicle nearby. Deputies were given a description of the vehicle and were able to locate the vehicle near I-26 on South Carolina Highway 34.

The officers stopped the vehicle and ordered everyone out of the vehicle. Officers recovered a pistol with an empty shell casing jammed in the gun. The suspect then admitted that the gun was his and that he had shot someone at the club.

Foster said, "He [Praylow] admits to his involvement in it and says he felt like he had to do what he had to do."

The two may have got into an altercation over a football game between Newberry and Mid-Carolina High School.

The suspect was identified as James Praylow, 20, of Prosperity. He has been charged with Murder and Assault and Battery with Intent to Kill.

According to Sheriff Foster, officers are investigating a number of different issues about this incident including who was responsible for the party, what caused the gun fire to erupt, and what relationship, if any, existed between Praylow and the victims.

He also says that while they believe that they have the only person responsible for the murder and shooting in custody, that witness statements and the crime scene investigation show that there was more than one person who shot a weapon while in the parking lot. He said that the investigation will continue and that more arrests are expected. Melina explained, "Whenever I saw him he'd stop and give me a hug...he was just the most wonderful person."

She says, Brown was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Foster says, they're also looking for someone who shot off a semi-automatic rifle last night at the club. They're investigating why alcohol was being served at a party where so many people were underage. It's not clear whether alcohol played a role in the shooting.