Mothers of two slain in Cayce shooting ask people to come forward with information
In the early hours of Aug. 2 a 20-year-old and a teenager were gun downed in Cayce. Now, the mothers of those victims are pleading for people to come forward with information about the shooting as they shoulder their grief through a police investigation.
“I would like for (people) to come forward and just tell what they know,” a victim’s mother said. “Somebody seen something. You’re not going to tell me all those people were (at the scene) and nobody don’t know anything? Somebody knows something. Just come forward.”
The two mothers were not identified by Cayce police to protect them.
The shooting happened on the 1100 block of Allen Street. When Cayce officers arrived, they found a large gathering near the scene, according to a police report. Officers tried to question people but all said they hadn’t seen or heard anything at the time.
A resident of a home close to the shooting spoke with officers about vehicles she saw speeding away. Police found multiple shell casing scattered around the scene.
The two victims, 20-year-old Isiah Bailey and 19-year-old Khajari Brown, both of Columbia, were pronounced dead at the scene. A third victim, the half-brother of Khajari Brown, was also shot but survived.
Cayce police are working with The State Law Enforcement Division and other police agencies to apprehend the shooters and “are closing in on the case,” a statement from the public safety department said.
Assistance from people has already resulted in vehicles and passengers from the shooting scene being identified. But police are still looking to identify one vehicle and its passengers.
“We believe that there are other members of the community that have information about this incident and or the subjects involved,” Cayce Public Safety Director Byron Snellgrove said. “We are encouraging those citizens to come forward as even minor details that they provide may be important to this investigation. We remain positive that our investigation along with the cooperation of witnesses in the community will lead to criminal charges being brought and justice being served for the victims and their families.”
As they grieve one of the mothers asked that no one retaliate for the shooting.
“If any one knows anything please work with the police department,” one of the mothers said. “Don’t take things in your own hands because it only makes things worse.”
One mother believes silence is complicity with the the shooting that left her son dead.
“Please say something. Don’t just let this go by and you know (about the shooting),” the mother said. “That makes you a part of it.”
People with information about the shooting are asked contact the Cayce Department of Public Safety at 803-794-0456.
This story was originally published August 14, 2020 at 2:31 PM.