Columbia man charged with murdering two people in Cayce shooting, cops say
Nearly five months after two young men from Columbia were killed in a shooting, a man has been arrested, the Cayce Department of Public Safety said.
On Wednesday, Israel S. Porter was identified as the shooter who opened fire on three people on Aug. 2, the department said in a news release.
The 21-year-old Columbia resident was charged with two counts of murder and one count of attempted murder, according to the release.
A teenager and a 20-year-old, both from Columbia, were killed in the shooting, Lexington County Coroner Margaret Fisher said in August.
The shooting happened on Aug. 2. At about 2 a.m. that day, officers with the Cayce Department of Public Safety responded to a 911 call about shots fired on Allen Street. That’s close to New Life Baptist Church and near the intersection of 12th and Frink streets.
They found three people shot, the two who died and a third who was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, according to the coroner’s office.
Isiah Bailey, 20, died at the scene after being shot multiple times, Fisher said. Khajari Brown, 19, was shot in the upper body and died at a hospital, she said.
“No parent should have to experience the death of their child,” Cayce Department of Public Safety Director Byron Snellgrove said Wednesday in a news release. “The families and friends of Isiah Bailey and Khajari Brown deserve answers and they deserve to see justice served.”
In August, City of Cayce spokeswoman Ashley Hunter told The State the third person was in critical condition. An update on the person’s condition was not made available Wednesday.
Porter was already in custody on an unrelated matter in Richland County when he was arrested for the Cayce shooting crimes, according to the release. He will remain in custody at the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center without bond, the department of public safety said.
In the unrelated incident, Porter was charged with attempted murder, six counts of kidnapping, possession of a weapon during a violent crime, armed robbery with a deadly weapon, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, first-degree burglary, and two counts of probation violation, jail records show.
In February, Porter pleaded guilty to a charge of pointing and presenting firearms at a person, unlawfully carrying a pistol, and a drug crime, Richland County court records show.
In 2018, Porter was convicted on a drug charge, according to court records. That same year, Porter also pleaded guilty to a second-degree burglary charge; financial transaction card theft; and receiving goods represented as stolen, value more than $2,000 but less than $10,000, court records show.
Members of the community might have more information about the deaths of Bailey and Brown, the department of public safety said.
“We are encouraging those citizens to come forward, even with what may seem to be minor details, as they could be important to fully adjudicating this violent criminal act.”
Anyone who has information is asked to call 803-550-9533.
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and the Richland County Sheriff’s Department assisted in the investigation.
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This story was originally published December 30, 2020 at 12:27 PM.
