GREENVILLE, S.C. — A 25‑year-old man shot during a road‑rage incident along Augusta Road has died, county officials confirmed Sunday, enveloping his community in grief and raising renewed calls for justice.
On Wednesday afternoon, emergency crews were dispatched to Augusta Road after a passerby reported what looked like a possible car crash. But when first responders arrived, they found not a wreck — but a man slumped behind the wheel, suffering from what appeared to be a gunshot wound.
The injured man was rushed to Prisma Health Greenville Memorial Hospital. There, on Sunday at 12:40 a.m., the Greenville County Coroner’s Office officially identified him as 25‑year-old Nicholas Daniel Rios, confirming his passing.
Investigators say they quickly zeroed in on a suspect: Steven James Strickland, 34. Using cellphone data and video evidence from the scene, deputies placed Strickland at the location and tied him directly to the shooting. He was arrested Thursday and is now held without bond at the Greenville County Detention Center.
Originally charged with attempted murder, discharging a firearm into an occupied vehicle, and possession of a weapon during a violent crime, Strickland’s charges are expected to be upgraded in light of Rios’s death.
Friends and family remember Nicholas Rios as a warm, genuine soul whose kindness and energy lit up any room. He was someone people trusted, someone who cared deeply — and in losing him, the Greenville community lost more than just one life. The void is being felt across neighbors, coworkers, and loved ones.
As the investigation continues, Greenville is left grappling with sorrow and shock — and the painful question of how a traffic call ended in such needless violence.
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