Late on February 4, 2021, 29-year-old Daytron Rashad Merriweather of Johnston, South Carolina, was shot during an apparent robbery at the Budgetel Inn on Fifth Street in Augusta, Georgia. He was taken to University Hospital and pronounced dead at 11:38 p.m. Reports say the motive was robbery and that marijuana was stolen from Merriweather during the encounter. Another person was shot twice and injured in the same incident.

The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office investigated and identified three suspects. Ashton Rouse and Devonte West, both from Edgefield, and Rahim Brown of Thompson, Georgia, were arrested and charged with murder, armed robbery, and possession of a firearm or knife during the commission of a crime. Ashton Rouse was also shot during the incident and treated at a hospital before being booked with the others.

Did anyone in the Augusta or Johnston areas see activity around the Budgetel Inn that night or have information about Merriweather’s movements before the robbery?