‘There will never be another Ja’Niya Richburg.’ Loris mourns SC student athlete
After the shooting death of 18-year-old Jan’Niya Richburg, the Loris High School community is mourning the loss of one of its own.
“I tell people all the time, there will never be another Ja’Niya Richburg,” said girls’ basketball coach Doug Gause.
Since making the varsity team her freshman year, Richburg shone as a star basketball player. She was the first Loris High School basketball player ever to score 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds and she won player of the year for the 2024-25 season.
“She definitely was probably the best woman athlete that played basketball at Loris High School and, more importantly, just a good-hearted person,” principal Jimmy McCullough said.
Those who knew Richburg also remember her as a natural leader, exemplary student, devoted Christian and selfless member of the community. Her coaches recall Richburg inspiring teammates on the court, helping peers with school work and embracing a foreign exchange student working to overcome a language barrier.
“She was just that infectious person. She never met a stranger,” said volunteer basketball coach Vanessa Gause, who is married to Doug and serves as an unofficial team mom. “She was just always bubbly, and that first day we even met, it was a bond that was immediately created.”
Beyond basketball, Richburg worked with the elderly at a Conway assisted living facility, was a Junior ROTC member and excelled athletically on the volleyball and track teams with natural ability and a work ethic her coaches describe as second-to-none.
“Whatever she touched, she did her best at it, and you could tell,” Vanessa Gause said. “You know how people say they got the Midas touch? Everything she touched, she flourished at it.”
Richburg planned to study biology on a full scholarship to Voorhees University, combining her passions working with people and medicine to pursue a career as an ultrasound technician.
Although she originally planned to share her college decision on April 28, Richburg postponed her announcement a week to sign with her teammates.
“That just speaks volumes about the type of person she was,” said Dough Gause. “She wasn’t selfish. She always wanted the best for everybody. She put her other people before herself. That’s what I love about her. That’s what I’m going to miss about her.”
But Richburg never had the chance to make her college announcement on May 5 with her teammates. On Tuesday, April 29, shortly before 11 p.m., Richburg’s life was cut short by a bullet that entered through the window of her boyfriend’s Conway home.
It’s still unclear what led to the shooting, but on May 2 Conway police charged 19-year-old Derrick Que’Shawn Ashley with Richburg’s murder. Ashley, a Conway resident, is in custody at the J. Reuben Long Detention Center without bail. The arrest warrant says police had probable cause to believe Ashley shot Richburg “with malice and aforethought.”
At just 18 years old, Richburg’s death sent shock waves through the community.
“Honestly, it’s been a struggle every day since it happened,” Doug Gause said. “I talk to the other kids on my team nightly now, trying to help them get through this process, me and my wife … and they’re like, ‘No, I still can’t walk through the school doors yet because I’m going to miss her. I’m expecting to see her. When I don’t see her, it’s going to make it real for me that she’s gone and she’s no longer coming back.’”
She’ll be remembered for her relentless dedication, athletic achievements and competitive spirit, but also her laughter, humility and compassion. Vanessa Cause believes Richburg’s encouragement will continue to motivate and inspire her peers.
“I think a lot of kids are now refocused and thinking, ‘You know what? I’m going to do this for Ja’Niya. I know I can do it now. I know I can achieve this goal,’” Vanessa Gause said. “Everything we do and say, she’ll be a part of it, because that’s just how she was, and the impact she had on many lives.”
This story was originally published May 6, 2025 at 6:00 AM.