Manhunt ends after weeks and teen is charged with murdering Midlands man, SC cops say
A Midlands teenager is behind bars after being charged with murder, the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office said.
Tas’Je Shakur Spann was wanted by the sheriff’s office, which said the 19-year-old shot a Sumter man who later died in a Columbia hospital.
After more than two weeks of searching for Spann, the manhunt ended Saturday night when he was arrested, the sheriff’s office said in a news release.
The Sumter teen was charged with murder, jail records show.
Information on how he was located, and if there were any incidents when he was taken into custody was not available.
Spann shot Richard Martin, Jr., just after midnight on Oct. 9 at a residence on West Patricia Drive, the sheriff’s office said. That’s near the intersection of Manning Avenue and Pocalla Road.
Spann and Martin knew each other and the teen opened fire following a dispute, according to the sheriff’s office.
The 33-year-old Sumter man was taken to a Columbia hospital, where he died Wednesday, the coroner’s office said in a news release. An autopsy was scheduled Friday at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.
In addition to the murder charge, Spann was booked into the Sumter County Detention Center for possession of a weapon during a violent crime, jail records show.
Spann has not had a bond hearing on those crimes, but was already awaiting trial after previously being charged with second-degree burglary, two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and two counts of contempt of circuit court, jail records show.
Information on the nature of the dispute between Spann and Martin was not available.
The sheriff’s office said the shooting was not gang related.
“It seems that disputes, verbal or physical, are more often settled with guns and violence,” Sheriff Anthony Dennis said in a news release. “Instead of calling law enforcement to help, some people are quick to result to violence with little to no thought of the consequences to themselves and others.”
This is a developing story, check back for updates.
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This story was originally published October 27, 2019 at 9:42 AM.
