The Fifth Circuit Solicitor’s Office declined to discuss Kornell Willis’s case, citing its pending status, and referred the family to a victim’s advocate, WACH Fox News reported. Probate court officials told the station they could not release details about Leona Toatley’s mental health evaluation. The family says it has not received a case update or heard from a victim’s advocate, according to WACH’s reporting.
A later shooting also led to charges against Toatley and her sister, Jamila Toatley. Columbia police said the sisters were accused of shooting at a man at 100 Ripplemeyer Avenue in August 2024; the man was not hurt, and no injuries were reported. The State reported that both were charged with criminal conspiracy, each had bond set at $20,000 after being taken to the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center, and police expected further arrests connected to the incident. Investigators had not linked Willis’s homicide to a separate fatal shooting at Gable Oaks about a week later, according to WIS-TV.
Public records cited by WACH Fox News indicate that Toatley was found incompetent to stand trial in December 2023, was later released from custody, and has a case listed as inactive. Willis’s relatives say they have received little information about her status or what may happen next, the station reported.
What competency records establish
South Carolina’s process assigns the court the final competency decision: a DDSN directive says evaluations assist the court, and a South Carolina General Sessions court form provides for a judge, based on an examiner’s report, to find a defendant presently competent and authorize the solicitor to proceed. Those materials do not establish what restoration or release decisions were made in Toatley’s case.
Willis was shot at Gable Oaks Apartments in Columbia on July 14, 2020. Police said Toatley, who knew Willis, was arrested and charged with murder and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime. Officers removed Willis from the apartment and provided aid until EMS arrived; he later died at a hospital. An autopsy determined that he died from multiple gunshot wounds, according to the Columbia Police Department. Toatley is accused in the case; people charged with crimes are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
WACH Fox News reported that Willis’s family is still seeking information about the case and that the station is seeking confirmation of Toatley’s current status and any conditions of her release. The station’s reporting remains the source for the family’s concerns and the officials’ responses.
