Sixteen-year-old Trey Dean Wright thought he was meeting his girlfriend on a quiet country road in Florence County, South Carolina. Instead, authorities say he walked into a trap that ended with his death.
Deputies responded to First Neck Road near Johnsonville just before midnight on June 24. When they arrived, they found the rising Johnsonville High School sophomore lying in the roadway with multiple gunshot wounds. He was rushed to a nearby hospital but died shortly after. The coroner later confirmed what his family and friends already knew: a life full of promise had been cut short.
Investigators allege that 17-year-old Gianna Helene Kistenmacher orchestrated the deadly confrontation by luring Wright into the meeting and bringing along an armed 19-year-old accomplice. Authorities say she appeared to play the role of a shocked girlfriend afterward, even going to the hospital, but her charges were later upgraded from accessory to murder.
“This was an altercation between two people,” Florence County Sheriff T.J. Joye said. “It’s not like, ‘I’m just going to go to Johnsonville and shoot somebody.’ They had issues with each other and it was over a female. The sad thing is, you got a 16-year-old that lost his life. You’ve got a 19-year-old who is going to be in jail the rest of his life. Over what?”
Police allege that her accomplice pulled the trigger during a verbal altercation, gunning Wright down in the middle of the road. He was arrested the following day and charged with murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime. He remains in jail without bond.
As detectives dug deeper, the case widened. On August 3, police announced the arrests of three more teens — Hunter Matthew Kendall, 18, Corrinne Elizabeth Belviso, 18, and Sydney Marissa Kearns, 17. Four additional minors, whose names have not been released, were also taken into custody. Under South Carolina’s “hand of one is the hand of all” statute, each teen accused of participating in the plan can be charged equally, even if they did not fire a shot.
For Trey’s mother, Ashley Lindsey, the idea that her son’s death was just about a love triangle doesn’t square with reality. “My son wasn’t about dumb stuff like a love triangle,” she told reporters. “He told me just two days before he was killed that being with Gianna felt like a dream come true. He really liked her, but he might have been clueless to whatever else was going on.”
Friends share the same sentiment. “I believe she just wanted them to fight, not for it to end this way,” said Ethan Kirby, Wright’s best friend. “It was all a childish act that turned real.”
In the weeks since the shooting, Wright has been remembered as more than just a victim in a police investigation. His obituary called him a “true outdoorsman” with an infectious smile and a knack for making people laugh.
To his family, the hole he leaves behind cannot be filled. “My baby never deserved not one thing that happened to him, period,” his mother said. “He was one in a million. He was good for people’s souls. His happiness was so contagious. He always spread joy and he was one of the most kind-hearted kids you’d ever meet. I will fight for justice for my baby, if it takes every last breath in me.”
