Police release report on 5-year-old girl killed in Summerville apartment shooting

EDITOR’S NOTE: The original version of this story identified the shooting victim with a different last name based on the identification provided by the coroner’s office. Police have since confirmed her last name is Lomelli-Graham.

SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (WCSC) - Investigators with the Summerville Police Department have released a report on a fatal shooting that took the life of 5-year-old girl Thursday night.

The Dorchester County Coroner’s Office said Italia Lomelli-Graham died in the shooting at the Evergreen subdivision.

The investigative report states that at 9:54 p.m. a police officer heard seven to eight shots coming from the Evergreen neighborhood. Authorities were told by dispatch operators that a 5-year-old girl had suffered a gunshot wound to the head.

Police responded to an apartment on the 100 block of Langley Drive where officers found the girl, who was suffering from a gunshot wound to the head, lying in the hallway. They said the home had been struck multiple times by bullets.

During a sweep of the area, a police officer reported locating a bullet shell casing across the street from the crime scene.

Officers and family members were rendering aid to Lomelli-Graham, until Dorchester County EMS arrived on scene and took over. The Dorchester County Coroner said that she was transported to the Summerville Medical Center, but was pronounced dead at 10:39 p.m.

The body is scheduled for autopsy Sunday at the Medical University of South Carolina.

Pictures from witnesses showed multiple emergency units and law enforcement units in the area and crime scene tape placed around a home. The Summerville Police Department and the Dorchester County Coroner’s Office say they are investigating.

On Friday, police officers were back out at the scene collecting more evidence.

Neighbors said they believe the home was targeted. Bullet holes remain in the window of the home on Langley Drive.

Authorities said someone shot into the house from outside, leaving their shell casings behind across the street.

“Don’t shoot the house man…that’s just a coward act right there,” said Ronald Grant, a neighbor.

Police say Lomelli-Graham was hit by one of those bullets while inside her family’s home.

“You killing children and they don’t even got much to do with nothing,” said Porcha Yonts, a neighbor. “The baby was 5. She was just about to go to school.”

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