A 20-year-old man was shot to death on a basketball court in Beaufort, S.C., last week, becoming the second man in three months to be killed on that court, the Beaufort Gazette reports.
Matthew Horne was found dead at around 9:30 p.m. Thursday after officers investigated an emergency call reporting shots fired at the court near the Charles Lind Brown Activity Center, the Beaufort Police Department told the news site.
An autopsy is still being conducted, but gunshot wounds appeared to be the cause of death, according to the Gazette.
Horne is the second victim left on the court since the February death of 19-year-old Detuan Jenkins. Thomas James Caron, 18, was later charged in Jenkins’ death.
Horne had been charged in an assault last year that resulted in lockdowns at a charter school and at the University of South Carolina Beaufort. His family said that the young man was turning his life around and had recently sought mental-health counseling.
“In recent weeks, Matthew had become preoccupied with the seriousness of his mistakes, what he could do to better manage his problems and turn his life around,” according to the family statement as reported by the Gazette. “His devastated family reports that he engaged in discussions with his at-risk mentors about changes he wanted to make and goals he envisioned for his life.”
A GoFundMe account set up to help with funeral costs described Horne as having a “bright smile [that] could light up a room, and [he] was known to put those around him at ease."
Read more at the Beaufort Gazette.