Columbia Police Department (CPD) investigators have charged a 32-year-old man in connection with an initial suspicious death investigation from McGrath Street last month.
Police Chief W. H. ‘Skip’ Holbrook announces that Antonio Mark Celey, Junior is charged with Murder and Unauthorized Removal of Dead Body (from place found). Celey, Junior was located and arrested by a CPD patrol officer yesterday near the intersection of Main and Calhoun Streets. Now, Celey is housed at the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center.
Investigators believe that Celey was with the female victim who has been identified by the Richland County Coroner’s Office as Dominique Michelle Palmero Pohl at a McGrath Street home on April 5, 2024.
The suspect is accused of inflicting blunt force trauma to Palmero Pohl’s body resulting in her death, removing her from the home, and disposing her body inside a garbage can. On April 11, 2024, CPD officers responded to the 3200 block of Colonial Drive after the victim’s body was discovered inside the garbage can.
CPD investigators have determined that the suspect and victim were acquaintances. It’s believed that the suspect was involved in a dispute with the victim at the time of the crime.
All persons arrested/charged are presumed innocent until or unless proven guilty in a court of law.