In the early morning hours of December 19, 2020, a dispute that began inside a Columbia, South Carolina convenience store tragically escalated, leaving two men dead. Curtis Dinkins, a 37-year-old male, and Corey Smith, 41, were fatally shot in the parking lot of the Motor City Market on Fairfield Road. The incident unfolded around 2:40 a.m. after an argument broke out inside the 24-hour convenience store.
Dinkins and Smith attempted to de-escalate the situation by leaving the store and
heading to a parked car where a man and a woman were waiting. However, they were followed by James Jamar Toatley, who then opened fire on the vehicle. Smith was pronounced dead at the scene, while Dinkins was transported to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. Both men died from multiple gunshot wounds. The two other occupants of the car were not physically harmed.
The Richland County Sheriff's Department quickly identified James Jamar Toatley as the suspect and launched a manhunt, considering him armed and dangerous. More than a month later, in January 2021, Toatley was apprehended in North Charleston by the Sheriff's Fugitive Task Force and the U.S. Marshals Service. During the search for Toatley, a woman named Bria Kierra Ruffin was arrested and charged with accessory after the fact to murder for allegedly helping him evade law enforcement.
In June 2023, a Richland County jury convicted James Jamar Toatley, then 34, for the murders of Curtis Dinkins and Corey Smith. In addition to two counts of murder, he was also found guilty of attempted murder, assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime. A judge sentenced Toatley to fifty-seven years in prison without the possibility of parole. Video and audio evidence presented at the trial, including footage from the store and data from the ShotSpotter system, were instrumental in the prosecution's case. It was revealed that the initial altercation started over Toatley's hand being accidentally brushed by one of the victims inside the market. In a related civil matter, the family of Corey Smith settled a negligence lawsuit against the Motor City Market for $1 million.
