In the early morning hours of December 19, 2020, a dispute inside a 24-hour convenience store in Columbia, South Carolina, escalated into a fatal shooting that claimed the life of 41-year-old Corey Donovon Smith. Smith, a male, and another man, Curtis Dinkins, were inside the Motor City Market on Fairfield Road when they became involved in an argument with another individual.
In an attempt to de-escalate the situation, Smith and Dinkins left the store and got into a parked car where two other people were waiting.
The man they had argued with, identified as James Jamar Toatley, followed them out of the store. As Smith and Dinkins sat in the vehicle, Toatley opened fire on them before fleeing the scene. The gunfire struck both Smith and Dinkins multiple times. Corey Smith died at the scene of the shooting, while Curtis Dinkins was transported to a local hospital where he later succumbed to his injuries. The other two occupants of the car were fortunately not harmed in the attack.
Law enforcement quickly identified James Jamar Toatley as the suspect in the double homicide. He was subsequently arrested and faced a series of serious charges, including two counts of murder for the deaths of Smith and Dinkins, and two counts of attempted murder for firing into a vehicle with other passengers.
The case against Toatley proceeded through the legal system, culminating in a trial where a Richland County jury heard the evidence against him. In a significant development, on June 27, 2023, the jury found James Jamar Toatley guilty of the murders of Corey Smith and Curtis Dinkins. Following the guilty verdict, the presiding judge sentenced Toatley to 57 years in prison without the possibility of parole, ensuring he would be held accountable for the violent end he brought to two men's lives. The prosecution's case was strengthened by the use of video evidence and audio from a gunshot detection system, which was utilized for the first time in a Richland County trial.
