Man Killed Ex-Girlfriend and Her Two Daughters Before Killing Himself; Jealous She Went to Beach With Her New Boyfriend

A South Carolina man who fatally shot his ex-girlfriend and two of her daughters before killing himself was in a jealous rage over a recent beach trip she took with another man, police said, reports The New York Daily.

A police report obtained by the Times and Democrat states the incident occurred on Sunday, May 17, around 7 pm in the town of St. Matthews. Shanta Renee Singleton, 37, and three of her four daughters were followed home by her ex-boyfriend Gabriel Jordan, 37, after leaving Myrtle Beach.

According to statements made by one of Singleton’s surviving daughters, after arriving home, the former couple began arguing after Singleton told Jordan that their relationship was over, and she had a new boyfriend who went with them to the beach that day. Jordan instantly became irate and went into a rage. He went inside the home and came back outside with a gun.

Violence soon turned for the worse when Singleton’s youngest daughter, 12-year-old Tre’vay Stroman, tried to defend her mother by jumping on Jordan’s back. Sadly, she was fatally shot. He then turned the gun on Singleton’s 18-year-old daughter, Shantasia Stroman, shooting her in the arm.

Fortunately, she was able to get away and run to a neighbor’s house for help.

The 18-year-old told authorities as she fled, she saw Jordan chase down her 15-year-old sister, Essence Stroman into the house, police reports state Essence was found dead inside a bedroom.

A neighbor who lived behind Singleton and Jordan said that he heard multiple gunshots, he grabbed his shotgun and began walking toward the back of his residence. He saw one of Singleton’s daughters crying that Jordan was shooting all of them. He told the daughter to go inside his home. When he saw Jordan standing at the back of his property, he told him to go back home. Moments, later the neighbor heard two more gunshots, and law enforcement began arriving.

Jordan was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound nearby.

Shantasia is expected to survive from her injuries. Singleton’s 13-year-old daughter was not injured in the tragedy. 

Calhoun County Sheriff Thomas Summers said the couple was “together off and on for many years,” adding the slayings were the result of a “domestic violence argument that went really bad,” reports New York Daily News. Summers stated he had responded to thousands of domestic disputes during his career, but none of this magnitude. Both Summers and the county coroner are confident that the deaths are results of a murder-suicide.

“Shanta was a very hardworking and dedicated mother. Her children were a reflection of that love and devotion to their well-being, and their losses will be felt by many,” attorney Chasity Avinger said. She served as a court-appointed guardian ad litem for one of the children.