Man shot five times was killed by mistake, Lexington County prosecutor says
A Columbia man will spend the rest of his life behind bars after being convicted of murder, the 11th Circuit Solicitor’s Office said.
On April 8, Leonard Mickens Jr. was sentenced to life in prison after he was found guilty by a Lexington County jury following a week-long trial, the solicitor’s office said in a news release. The 31-year-old is not eligible for parole, according to South Carolina law.
The conviction came seven years after 29-year-old Donte Doyle was shot and killed.
The shooting happened Aug. 11, 2015, in Lexington County at the River Oaks Apartments on Bush River Road. That’s near Exit 63 on Interstate 20.
The investigation, led by the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department, revealed that Mickens is a gang member and he intended to kill a rival gang member, according to the release. The gangs’ names were not included in the release.
Instead of shooting his intended target, Mickens inadvertently killed Doyle, who was standing outside of his apartment smoking a cigarette, the solicitor’s office said.
Warrants for Mickens’ arrest were issued in 2017, and ultimately served in 2018, according to the release. When he was arrested, Mickens was already in custody after pleading guilty to a federal charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm from an October 2014 incident.
The solicitor’s office said Mickens was released from federal custody in 2020, but he continued to be incarcerated pending the murder trial that began in April 2022.
The Trial
During the trial, a forensic pathologist testified that Doyle was shot at least five times and the fatal shot was fired when he was on the ground, according to the release.
Prosecutors said Doyle was killed because he was “at the wrong place at the wrong time,” and “happened to be wearing the wrong color pants.” Doyle wore red pants that day, the solicitor’s office said.
Beyond residing at the same apartment complex, the man Mickens intended to kill testified that he did not know Doyle, something the solicitor’s office said was confirmed by the investigation. But the intended target said he also wore red pants during this time period, according to the release.
Investigators discovered threatening video messages sent by Mickens to the intended victim about 90 minutes before the shooting, the solicitor’s office said. Mickens recorded the videos in the parking lot of an apartment complex where the mother of the intended victim lived. Doyle was killed near the apartment where the intended victim’s girlfriend lived, according to the release.
The intended victim regularly stayed with his girlfriend or his mother during this time, the solicitor’s office said.
Witnesses described the shooter, saying he was wearing a distinct bucket hat with emojis on it, and that he was a passenger in a blue Ford Explorer, the solicitor’s office said.
That matched what law enforcement officers said they saw on surveillance footage from the apartment complex, according to the release.
Cellphone data was used to place Mickens in the area of the shooting at the time of the murder, according to the release. Threatening videos were recovered from Mickens’ phone showing him wearing the bucket hat with emojis on it, and there was also a photo on the phone where he was in the passenger seat of what appeared to be a Ford Explorer — less than two hours before the shooting, the solicitor’s office said.
‘Violent and dangerous’
During sentencing, a video that Mickens recorded the day after the shooting was played in court. It had been sent to the intended victim, and it shows Mickens appearing to boast about the shooting and to claim that he already had shot the intended victim in the past, according to the release. Mickens ended the video by saying “bang, bang.”
The solicitor’s office said it believes Mickens was referencing a drive-by shooting in Columbia in which the intended victim was shot, but survived, five days prior to the gunfire at the apartment complex. Shell casings from the drive-by matched the casings recovered at River Oaks, according to the release.
The solicitor’s office said the court was also made aware that Mickens was responsible for several shootings in Columbia during this time frame, and that in November 2018 he was charged with murder following the death of a 14-year-old Columbia boy who was gunned down in a drive-by shooting while walking home from a basketball court. That charge is pending.
Mickens is a “violent and dangerous person,” Senior Assistant Solicitor Robby McNair said in the release. McNair and Assistant Solicitor Luke Pincelli led the prosecution.
The attorney representing Mickens in the murder trial was Justin Kata, Lexington County court records show.
Jail records show Mickens is currently being held in the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center for the pending murder charge in Richland County. Mickens is facing charges on three other violent crimes from the same incident, according to Richland County court records.
Mickens will eventually be transported to the South Carolina Department of Corrections to serve his life sentence.
Mickens has prior convictions for multiple state and federal gun possession charges, according to the release. Mickens has also been convicted on burglary, tampering with electronic monitor (by cutting it off his ankle), and receiving stolen goods charges, the solicitor’s office said.
In addition to the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department, the Midlands Gang Task Force that includes investigators with the Columbia Police Department and Richland County Sheriff’s Department assisted in the investigation.
They were familiar with Mickens and his gang, the solicitor’s office said.
The driver of the blue Ford Explorer used in the shooting at the apartment complex has not been identified.
Aftermath
During sentencing, Doyle’s sister said her brother just found out that he was going to be a father for the first time, according to the release. She said the shooting changed the lives of two families, adding it was senseless and that kids were everywhere around the apartment complex as bullets were fired during the middle of the day.
Mickens also spoke during sentencing and expressed sympathy for Doyle’s family, however, he did not admit guilt, the solicitor’s office said. Mickens did apologize to the rival gang member that the investigation revealed was the intended victim.
“Many of our communities are plagued with gang violence. Some of the most violent and heinous crimes that we prosecute are gang related. This conviction and sentence send a strong message to our communities that we will fully prosecute gang violence and that it will not be tolerated,” Solicitor Rick Hubbard said in the release. “This was a senseless killing and I am grateful for the hard work on the part of the prosecution team and law enforcement in bringing closure to this family.”
BEHIND THE STORY
MOREThis is a breaking news story
In a breaking news situation, facts can be unclear and the situation may still be developing. The State is trying to get important information to the public as quickly and accurately as possible. This story will be updated as more information becomes available, and some information in this story may change as the facts become clearer. Refresh this page later for more updated information.
