Police charge man in fatal shooting, burglary in Lower Richland, other suspect sought
Columbia Police charged a 27-year-old man Tuesday with murder in connection with a fatal shooting near Lower Richland.
A second man is being sought for his role in the June 26 shooting, which police have said happened during a burglary.
Police arrested Donald Moore and charged him with murder, first-degree burglary and gun offenses. The charges are related to a break-in at an apartment complex at 350 Byron Road, which is off Garners Ferry Road near the Dorn Veterans Hospital.
Police have warrants to arrest 28-year-old Rashu Ahemn as an accomplice in the shooting, according to a news release from the department. Ahemn should be considered armed and dangerous, police said.
Troy Devon Thomas, 46, was killed in the break-in, Richland County Coroner Gary Watts said.
Police say Moore and Ahemn broke into the apartment where Thomas was staying at 2 a.m., police said. Ahemn beat a woman, police said. When Thomas tried to protect her, police say Ahemn shot him. The woman tried to escape, and Ahemn shot her in the lower body, according to police.
At some point in the altercation, Thomas shot Moore in the upper body, police said. Moore ran from the apartment into the streets.
Ahemn shot Thomas “multiple” times in the upper body, Watts said.
When police arrived, officers found Moore wounded on Byron Road. Paramedics took him to the hospital. Paramedics also took the female victim to the hospital where she was treated and released.
Moore is currently jailed at Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center awaiting a bond hearing.
Warrants against Ahemn charge him with murder, attempted murder, first degree burglary, armed robbery and two gun offenses, according to police.
“The motive for the shooting remains under investigation,” a statement by Columbia Police Department said.
Ahemn has been charged with burglary before, court records show.
In 2012, he pleaded guilty to second-degree burglary and was sentenced to two years of probation, according to records. Over the next seven years, he pleaded guilty to other charges, including breaking into a home, cocaine possession and a gun offense, for which he was sentenced to six months in prison, court filings show.
Ahemn and Moore could face the death penalty if convicted on the murder charge.
To face the death penalty a homicide must occur with certain “aggravating” circumstances by South Carolina law. One of those circumstances is the killing happens during a burglary.