Two 18-year-olds charged with murder in the shooting death of 16-year-old Trey Wright were taken into custody Wednesday as a South Carolina judge considers whether to revoke the house-arrest bonds that had kept them out of jail. Braylyn Oneil Thompson and Jaden Blaze Auclaire were released earlier on $20,000 surety bonds that required them to stay home except for school, medical or legal appointments, but prosecutors say both broke those terms and picked up new criminal charges in the process.
According to WPDE, Florence County Deputy Solicitor Todd Tucker told the court that both defendants violated their release conditions by being away from home and by facing fresh arrests. Tucker said Auclaire was charged with first-offense driving under the influence on September 26, while Thompson was charged in Horry County with malicious injury to animals or personal property valued at $2,000 or less, first-offense driving under suspension, and failure to appear. Tucker asked Judge H. Steven DeBerry IV to revoke both bonds outright, telling the court, “We're asking that bond be respectfully revoked for both of these individuals. And they remain in custody until this matter is brought to trial.”
Court TV reports that both teens had been released on the $20,000 surety bonds with the understanding that they would remain under house arrest unless attending school or medical or legal appointments. Per Court TV, Thompson and Auclaire are both charged with murder in connection with Wright's death, which prosecutors say occurred on June 24, 2025, after an ongoing dispute over a teenage girl. DeBerry did not issue a ruling on the spot — the judge said he would take the bond-revocation request under consideration, and both men remained in custody pending that decision, per the same WPDE report.
Nine Defendants, One Shooting
Thompson and Auclaire are among nine people charged in Wright's killing, according to WPDE's reporting. The case has drawn scrutiny in part because South Carolina's accomplice-liability standard allows prosecutors to charge multiple participants in a killing equally, provided they can show a defendant was present, knew a crime was being committed, and participated in or contributed to it — a legal framework detailed by FITSNews in its coverage of the case.
This is not the first time prosecutors in the Wright case have moved to revoke a defendant's release conditions. The same WPDE report notes that prosecutors have previously filed motions to revoke bonds for other suspects charged in Wright's murder after they were arrested on new criminal charges, and that Auclaire's attorney, Elizabeth Neyle, asked the judge to consider GPS monitoring. WBTW reports that nine young people total face charges in the killing, a mix of named defendants and juveniles whose identities have not been released.
Other Defendants Face Separate Proceedings
The Wright case has produced a string of related court actions involving other defendants. According to WMBF News, prosecutors earlier sought to revoke the bond of defendant Corinne Belviso after alleging she had left South Carolina and was possibly living in New York, despite having been given a $20,000 surety bond and house arrest with permission to leave only for school, work, church or medical visits. In a separate proceeding described in WPDE's reporting, a judge found enough probable cause for the murder case against defendant Sydney Kearns to move forward to a grand jury, even as prosecutors pursued the bond-revocation effort against Thompson and Auclaire following their new arrests.
Wright's family has accused another defendant, Gianna Kistenmacher, of orchestrating his murder, alleging she lured him to the scene where he was killed. Kistenmacher, whose initial accessory-before-the-fact charge was later upgraded to murder, is a separate case from the bond-revocation hearing involving Thompson and Auclaire, and the allegations against her remain contested in court filings. No ruling on the Thompson-Auclaire bond matter had been issued as of the hearing, leaving both men in custody while DeBerry weighs the motion.
