N. Charleston family searching for answers one year after man’s unsolved murder

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - Ahead of the holidays, one North Charleston family is still heartbroken and left with many questions after their loved one was murdered exactly one year ago.

This will be the second Christmas 24-year-old Rishawd Nelson’s family will spend without him after he was shot and killed on Dec. 22, 2020 on Flood Street.

“The pain is still real,” said Alazaiah Gadsden, the mother of two of Nelson’s children. “I’m still having flashbacks of the day I got the phone call and I rushed downtown, the day I saw him in that casket knowing that was the last day seeing him.”

Nelson’s wife, Emonie, says she was on the phone with him during the shooting.

“I heard everything,” she says. “It hurts. I replay it in my head everyday. I’m supposed to be strong for my children and his other kids, his mom. It hurts, and it’s not fair.”

No one has been charged with Nelson’s murder, Emonie says, and she’s concerned the case is going cold. She says she’s afraid his case is being forgotten and that no one will ever be brought to justice for killing her husband, who was an army veteran and father of five.

“I kind of feel like I’m dying inside, but I have to go on,” Emonie says. “I know people know what happened to him. I wish they would come forward to give justice to his family, his kids, his mom.”

Gadsden, too, urges people to share information with authorities to help bring closure to the family.

“If the shoe was on the other foot, if it was their family, they would want someone to speak up,” she said.

We reached out to Charleston Police for more information on the status of the case and any updates they have but did not hear back by the time of publication.

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