Jay’Kwon Tajeek Walker, on the left, and Heyward “Trey” Delno Price III, on the right. (Pickens County Sheriff’s Office; Screengrab via WYFF)
Heyward “Trey” Delno Price III was all of 32 years old, a young father of three, when he was shot to death just feet away from his sleeping son and daughter in 2021. Now, law enforcement in South Carolina say they have finally arrested his killer.
“He enjoyed coaching for Dacusville Recreation Dept. in baseball and basketball,” the deceased man’s obituary reads. “He loved to fish and often took trips to Santee to catch ‘the BIG one’. Trey was loved by many and was considered a friend to anyone he met. He was known as a giant teddy bear with a heart just as big. He will be greatly missed.”
After a while, the case went cold.
Contemporaneous reports from the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office cited the lack of an arrest in the weeks following Price’s murder. As part of the investigation, officials released details of a vehicle believed to have been linked to the crime, according to Greenville-based NBC affiliate WYFF. But no arrest was made.
“The victim, who is an adult male, was found deceased with a visible injury that is characteristic of a gunshot wound,” Chief Deputy Chad Brooks said at the time. There were no weapons at the scene.
The deceased man’s family offered a $10,00 reward for information about his murder. No one ever came calling.
“To this day, I still feel like it’s a dream,” Trey Price’s father, Delno Price, said, in comments reported by WYFF. “I just need to wake up and I can’t.”
“I go to bed at night and I’m up every hour,” he added. “You wake up over and over all night long.”
According to the elder Price, his grandson found his father dead the morning after the slaying. The young boy texted his grandfather to say there was something wrong with his dad. The family, at first, thought Trey Price had died from a heart attack.
Delno Price called 911 and rushed over. He soon discovered the worst.
“And I went from being devastated, which I still am, to being mad,” Delno Price told the TV station. “It’s not acceptable.”
The deceased man’s mother relayed the boy’s shock.
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“All he could say was, ‘Why? Why would someone do that to my daddy?’” Robin Price told WYFF. “He couldn’t understand.”
“It’s not frustrating,” the deceased man’s mother added. “It makes me angry to the pits of my soul.”
On Monday, the PCSO announced that Jay’Kwon Tajeek Walker, 24, had been arrested and charged in relation to the case last week. Walker stands accused of murder, burglary in the first degree, and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime, jail records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
Investigators cited by WYFF allege the defendant was connected to Price’s murder by DNA evidence recovered from the scene.
“[B]lood evidence was recovered from the victim’s body at the crime scene, which matched that of the defendant,” an arrest warrant for Walker obtained by the TV station reportedly alleges.
That evidence, investigators claim, was then tested by the South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division.
“Over the past two years, Detectives with the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office have worked tirelessly following up on leads, interviewing associates, reviewing surveillance video, combing over evidence, and submitting evidence for processing by SLED,” the sheriff’s office said in a press release obtained by WYFF. “However, despite an extensive investigation, no significant leads were developed until recently when, with the assistance of a recent DNA hit, detectives identified Walker as a possible suspect.”
In late June, the defendant was arrested and charged in nearby Laurens County on one count each of receiving stolen goods, and burglary. Court records reviewed by Law&Crime show. Those charges are currently pending. In September 2018, Walker was charged with one criminal count of littering.
The investigation into Price’s murder, however, is ongoing because law enforcement does not believe that Walker acted alone.
Law&Crime reached out to the sheriff’s office for additional details on this story but no response was immediately forthcoming.
Walker is slated to appear in court next on Sept. 21.
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