Stephen Wayne Grant Jr., 34, was fatally shot on the night of September 14, 2016, after leaving a convenience store at Columbus and Hanover streets in Charleston, South Carolina. Known to friends and family as a warm, hardworking man and owner of Straight Up Natural, he was rushed to the Medical University Hospital but died of his injuries after bystanders and first responders attempted to render aid.

Investigators determined the killing was retaliatory. Detectives learned Grant had been serving as a confidential informant, and that his cooperation led to the arrest and conviction of Eugene Stanley Rollerson. Surveillance and witness accounts placed a black SUV near the scene; a person matching Rollerson’s description was seen exiting the vehicle and hiding before running out and opening fire. The assailant fled in the SUV.

Police later tied Rollerson to the vehicle through DNA and fingerprints, and linked a pistol recovered in the car to the fatal bullets. Rollerson, then 26 and already in custody at Ridgeland Correctional Institution for other offenses, was charged in Grant’s murder and with possessing a weapon during a violent crime. Does anyone have information about Grant’s life in Charleston or the area around Columbus and Hanover streets that could help fill gaps in the timeline?