Community remembers church leader killed in North Augusta gas station shooting

NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. (WJBF) – There’s heartbreak in North Augusta, as friends remember a beloved church leader gone far too soon. 

76-year-old Jewel Harden had just left church Sunday afternoon and stopped here at the Sprint convenience store on Edgefield Road for gas. Moments later, gunfire ended her life. 

People who knew her say she lived up to her name — a true jewel in every sense. 

“Everywhere you put this woman inside the church and outside of the earth, the church, there was the type of consistency, that she is renowned for,” said Dr. Finace Bush of Crown Kingdom Cultural Center.

Loved ones describe Jewel Harden as quiet, gentle, and deeply anointed — a loyal leader at Crown Kingdom Cultural Center who poured her heart into ministry and her community.

She helped low-income families get life insurance, often paying premiums herself. 

As a Care Ambassador, she made sure church members had food, rides, and support.

“She’s gonna come in that door and she’s gonna make her way slowly up the aisle. And this is her seat right here,” Dr. Bush said. “She never needed to be on the front seat, but she’s not going to the back. And this is her place.” 

Dr. Bush first heard about the shooting in a text and brushed it off, until his assistant came in crying the next day. That’s when he learned it was Ms. Jewel.

“All of a sudden you feel like you lost more than a member,” he said. “Watch this. I felt like I missed part of my calling. Someone that was a part that, an intricate part of my calling.”

Bush says he’s been back to the gas station twice — just trying to understand how someone so full of life could be gone.

“So that I could erase it and rewrite it and change the outcome,” he said. “But it’s not in my power to do it. So that’s how I heard about it. And it’s hurt. Deeply hurt.”

Ms. Jewel had four daughters and several grandchildren. She raised them as a single mother and remained deeply involved in their lives.

“The world may see tragedy in this moment,” Dr. Bush said. “But the jewel that has now culminated the beauty and the glory of heaven itself.”

At Crown Kingdom Cultural Center, they’re asking for continued prayers for her family as they prepare to say goodbye. Funeral details are still being finalized. The church will honor her at bible study on Wednesday at 7 p.m.

33-year-old Thomas Lilly Jr. was also killed in the shooting on Sunday.

We have reached out to SLED for more information on the suspect and a possible motive.