No murder charge in Finlay Park shooting

The fatal shooting of a man in Columbia’s Finlay Park over Memorial Day weekend was self-defense, officials said.

Gene Autry Morris Jr., 23, was defending his life when he shot Laron Martin, 37, the night of May 27 in the upper level of the downtown park, according to Gary Cross, executive assistant to Fifth Circuit Solicitor Dan Johnson. Martin had a knife in his hand as he was approaching Morris, who was backing away.

“It was an act of self-defense,” Cross said. “They determined a charge of manslaughter or murder was not relevant. It was more of a ‘stand your ground’ self-defense.”

Morris, who fled after the shooting, was later arrested and charged with unlawful carrying of a pistol, which is a misdemeanor. He pleaded guilty to that charge earlier this month and faced up to a year in prison, but Circuit Court Judge Robert Hood sentenced Morris under the state’s Youthful Offender Act to a year in prison suspended to a year of probation, according to court documents. That means Morris will avoid prison, if he fulfills the terms of his probation.

“Mr. Morris accepted responsibility for the charge that was issued,” said Columbia defense attorney Jonathan Harvey, who represented Morris. “He’s a decent young man and feels bad he was involved in an incident that involved a fatality.”

The killing is believed to be the first in Finlay Park since it opened in 1991.

Officials said at the time that Martin was verbally harassing two women who were spending time in the park around 8 p.m. One of the women called Morris and asked him to come to the park. Investigators say Morris stopped by his home to get a pistol.

Morris later admitted to police that he did not have a concealed weapons permit while carrying the .380-caliber Glock in the park, according to warrants. That led to the charge of unlawful carry.

At the park, Morris got into an argument with Martin that stemmed from Martin’s alleged harassment of the women, police officials said. Shots were fired during the argument, and Morris fled without calling police.

Martin was shot twice, according to Richland County Coroner Gary Watts. One shot went through his right arm and struck him in the chest, and the second shot entered his upper right arm and struck him in the right upper back, Watts said.

Harvey would not disclose how Morris knew the two women in the park.

“Mr. Morris would want to respect the privacy of his associates,” he said. “He would hope that all the people involved, their privacy, would be respected as they heal and move forward.”

Morris had no criminal record in South Carolina before his arrest, according to State Law Enforcement Division records. Martin had a record going back to 1997 that included multiple convictions for criminal domestic violence and a conviction for criminal domestic violence of a high and aggravated nature, according to SLED.

On July 3 – just over a month after the shooting – Columbia police arrested Morris again on charges of breach of trust with fraudulent intent worth $10,000 or more and hit and run, according to court documents. Those charges stemmed from an April 22 incident when Morris took a friend’s Mercedes-Benz without the owner’s permission and crashed it, according to warrants.

Prosecutors filed a motion to have Morris’ bond on the weapon charge revoked. Harvey said that did not happen.

Morris pleaded guilty to the hit-and-run charge earlier this month and was sentenced to a year in prison suspended to a year of probation, to run concurrently with his sentence for the weapon charge, according to court documents. The terms of that probation include mental health counseling at the discretion of the Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services.

The breach of trust charge was dismissed.

Harvey said his client, who graduated from Allen University last year and was employed at UPS until the shooting, is hoping to move on from the events of that summer night.

“This incident affected him greatly,” he said. “Gene, as we speak now, his conduct has been sanctioned, and he’s got a criminal record arising out of this.”

This story was originally published October 26, 2017 at 4:52 PM with the headline "No murder charge in Finlay Park shooting."