The mother of a teenager who was murdered in South Carolina has opened up about his death, saying he adored his girlfriend, who allegedly had a hand in his death.
Trey Dean Wright, 16, was found with gunshot wounds on a rural road in Florence County late on June 24. Deputies discovered him just before midnight.
He was rushed to the hospital but died the next day.
The teen’s death has sparked outrage and heartbreak as details have emerged suggesting Wright was lured to the remote location under the guise of a fistfight, only to be gunned down in a plot rooted in jealousy.
At the center of the story is Wright’s 17-year-old girlfriend, Gianna Helene Kistenmacher — the daughter of a Horry County police officer — who, according to investigators, allegedly helped orchestrate the deadly confrontation.
Wright’s mother, Ashley Lindsey, said her son had only been seeing Kistenmacher for a few weeks but had fallen hard for the cheerleader.
“He told me just two days before he was killed that being with Gianna felt like a dream come true,” Lindsey told The Daily Mail, calling Kistenmacher a “queen bee.”
“He really liked her, but he might have been clueless to whatever else was going on,” she added.
According to friends and family, Kistenmacher allegedly stirred the pot by accusing Wright of cheating, while she herself was spending time with 19-year-old Devan Scott Raper, the alleged shooter.
Hours before the shooting, an argument reportedly broke out between the couple, and during a FaceTime call, Raper is said to have pointed a gun at the phone in a threatening gesture toward Wright.
Despite the alarming display, Wright still believed he was going to settle things with a fistfight.
“He believed he was going to have a ‘bare-knuckle fight,’” said Lindsey.
“I believe she just wanted them to fight, not for it to end this way,” Wright’s friend Ethan Kirby, 18, told the outlet. “It was all a childish act that turned real.”
Investigators say the scene was anything but spontaneous.
Raper was in one of two cars full of teens who made the hour-long trip from the Myrtle Beach area to rural Johnsonville, SC.
Kistenmacher was reportedly behind the wheel of the second vehicle. Police say she knowingly brought Wright to the confrontation, aware that Raper was armed and had previously made threats.
“They were complicit in bringing the armed codependent, Raper, to the incident location and knowing that there would be a confrontation,” Florence County Major Michael Nunn said, according to The New York Post.
“They knew that Raper had presented a firearm to the victim and made threats to shoot him, according to the arrest warrant.”
When the two teenagers finally met, the confrontation quickly escalated. Authorities say Raper opened fire, shooting Wright multiple times.
The entire group — including Kistenmacher — allegedly left Wright bleeding in the road.
At least one teen recorded the fatal encounter, and law enforcement suspects parts of the attack and its aftermath were caught on video.
In total, 10 teenagers have been implicated in Wright’s death, per ABC4.
Raper faces charges of murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime and is being held without bond. Kistenmacher was charged as an accessory before the fact of a felony and released into her family’s custody.
Others charged include 18-year-olds Corrine Belviso and Hunter Kendall, and 17-year-old Sydney Kearns.