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Girl, 12, boy, 16, slain in city
By RICK BRUNDRETT
Staff Writer
A 12-year-old girl and a 16-year-old boy died Friday morning after being shot the night before outside the girl’s north-side Columbia home.
A 19-year-old man was arrested and charged in their slayings.
Courtney Dixon, 12, and Terrence Merchant, 16, were shot in the head, Richland County Coroner Gary Watts said. Terrence died at 8:05 a.m. at Palmetto Health Richland; Courtney died about 9:30 a.m., Watts said.
The suspect, Chris Anthony Liverman, who lives nearby in the Bethel Bishop Apartments, has been charged with two counts of murder, police said.
Liverman is a gang member, Police Chief Dean Crisp said, but investigators don’t know whether the shooting was gang-related. He said neither Terrence nor Courtney was affiliated with any gang, and they didn’t appear to be the intended targets, he said.
“It was a very senseless act,†and a motive has not been established, Crisp said Friday afternoon.
An investigation is under way.
The shootings happened about 9:45 p.m. Thursday at the home of Courtney’s family at 110 T.S. Martin Drive, in a new subdivision behind the W.A. Perry Middle School in the Edgewood community. Terrence lived on English Avenue, behind Courtney’s home.
Tynisha Robinson, 19, said she and several other teens were talking with Courtney and Terrence at Courtney’s home when shots were fired at the house on two separate occasions Thursday night.
The first time, several shots hit the home while they were on the front porch, but no one was injured, Robinson said.
She said she ran into the house. She said she heard the second round of shots a short time later, ran outside and saw Courtney and Terrence falling to the ground several feet away.
“It was too late for them to run,†Robinson said, pointing to the blood-stained spots where the youths were shot.
Robinson said the shots came from a group of teenagers who were standing in the street nearby, but she didn’t see the shooter because it was dark.
Columbia police spokesman Skot Garrick could not confirm Robinson’s account. He said investigators were still interviewing witnesses.
Crisp said as many as 10 shots were fired; at least four bullet holes could be seen in the front of the house.
A 12-year-old friend of Courtney’s said she heard the gunshots, loud screaming and police sirens Thursday night. Friday morning, she learned Courtney was dead.
“It got me so scared, I don’t want to go out the door,†she said.
Under S.C. law, Liverman could face the death penalty if convicted. He was convicted last year of grand larceny over $5,000 and was placed on probation, and was arrested this year on a charge of criminal sexual conduct with a minor, State Law Enforcement Division records show.
Liverman was arrested shortly after the shooting, when officers spotted him coming out of a wooded area in the 300 block of Calk Street, near the scene of the shootings, police said.
Crisp said investigators believe Liverman was the shooter, though the chief didn’t know whether the murder weapon — reportedly a handgun — had been recovered.
Liverman was in a vehicle in area of the shootings, looking for an unknown individual, and later returned with the others on foot, Crisp said. He was with three or four other people at the time.
A member of the Chicago-based Folk Nation gang, whose colors are black and whose symbols include the Star of David and a pitchfork, Liverman also has been affiliated with another gang known as the Insane Gangster Disciples, Crisp said.
Liverman is listed in the department’s new gang database, Crisp said, and an internal bulletin on his gang connection and possible violent nature was released Aug. 9 to officers in the area of the shooting.
Robinson said she couldn’t recall any serious problems in the past in her neighborhood of about three dozen mostly two-story wood and brick homes with neat lawns.
But Terrence’s 39-year-old brother, Henry Merchant, said he occasionally has heard shots fired in the area near his English Avenue home. He blamed the problem on gang activity in nearby apartment complexes.
Mayor Bob Coblesaid at a Friday afternoon news conference that stopping the violence is everyone’s responsibility. Joined by Crisp, City Manager Charles Austin and City Council members, Coble said youth violence is growing in Columbia.
“In the last six months, 39 percent of all violent crimes in Columbia were committed by individuals under the age of 25,†he said.
Programs targeting youth violence and gang violence must continue, Coble said. That means investing more money in these types of programs, he said.
“The status quo is not good enough,†he said.
Coble asked the Columbia Urban League to take the first step in uniting the community.
Columbia Urban League president and CEO J.T. McLawhorn Jr. encouraged people to report suspicious behavior to law enforcement.
Mothers and fathers need to be part of the solution, he said. “The first line of defense starts with the parents.â€
Thursday night’s shooting and a shooting earlier this week happened in City Councilman E.W. Cromartie’s district. Cromartie said he has been in touch with community leaders and said he wanted to do everything he could to make sure the areas are safe.
“We will not tolerate violence in this community, and we will not tolerate people losing their lives. ... If it does happen, they will pay the price.â€
Staff writers Lauren Leach and Gina Smith contributed to this report. Reach Brundrett at (803) 771-8484 or [email protected].
