10-05-2025
‘Futures were stolen': Conway mayor, police chief speak about gun violence, 2 recent homicides in Facebook video
CONWAY, S.C. (WBTW) — 'Their futures were stolen by gun violence.'
That's how Conway Mayor Barbara Jo Blain describes the recent killing of Loris High School basketball star Ja'Niya Richburg and 24-year-old V'Ron Gibbs in separate, unrelated shootings that occurred within a block of each other in the city.
'My heart remains heavy as our community continues to grieve the cold, pointless death of two young people, V'Ron Gibbs and Ja'Niya Richburg,' Blain said Friday afternoon in a Facebook video alongside Police Chief Dale Long. 'There are not just names. They are a son and a daughter, a brother and sister, relatives to many and important to friends, classmates and co-workers. We have all been robbed our their adult contributions to our lives and our world.'
Gibbs died at Grand Strand Medical Center on April 20 from gunshot wounds suffered in a shooting the night before at Grainger Road and Marion Street. Long said it started as a 'street encounter' that escalated into an argument. Two people — Davion 'Chino' Hunt and Traeqwan Wilson of Florence are facing murder charges in his death.
Richburg was shot and killed on April 29 while she was at her boyfriend's house on Horry Street. Authorities said she was hit by a bullet that came through a window of the home shortly before midnight. Nineteen-year-old Derrick Que'shawn Ashley of Conway faces a murder charge in her death.
Long called the shootings a 'senseless loss of life' and said they were unrelated incidents, separated by only a few days, and occurred within a block or so of each other.
'We have investigated, we have done interviews, we have examined forensic evidence, we have harnessed all of the technology at our disposal, and at this point, we are confident in saying that the two homicides that we had recently, they were not linked, except by proximity only,' Long said.
Blain assured residents in the video that authorities will do whatever it takes to bring an end to gun violence in the city.
'Our children deserve a chance to become independent, productive, happy adults,' she said. V'Ron and Ja'Niya deserve these things.'
Anyone with information about either of the cases is asked to call Conway police at 843-248-1790.
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Dennis Bright is the Digital Executive Producer at News13. He joined the team in May 2021. Dennis is a West Virginia native and a graduate of Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. Follow Dennis on Facebook, X, formerly Twitter, and read more of his work here.
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