On the evening of March 15, 2021, 18-year-old Caleb A. Martin, a Black male from Columbia, South Carolina, was shot in the parking lot of an EZ Spot convenience store in the 3200 block of Farrow Road. ShotSpotter alerted police to gunfire around 8 p.m.; officers found Martin with severe gunshot injuries and he later died at a local hospital.

Columbia police identified and arrested two suspects. Nineteen-year-old James Oxendine, Jr. was charged with murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime; police say Oxendine was the shooter. Twenty-seven-year-old Sheldon Turner was charged with accessory after the fact of murder, accused of driving Oxendine away from the scene and not reporting the crime or rendering aid. Both were booked into the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center.

Questions were raised during the inquiry about possible negligent security at the convenience store where the shooting occurred. If anyone knew Caleb Martin, witnessed the shooting, or has information about the store’s security that night, please share what is known.