On a December morning in 2019, the body of 19-year-old Martavis Deangelo Armstrong McKenzie, a male from Manning, South Carolina, was discovered on a dirt road in Clarendon County. The grim discovery was made near Camilla Drive, where he was found with what appeared to be gunshot wounds. Emergency medical services were dispatched to the scene, but McKenzie was pronounced dead from his injuries.
The Clarendon County Coroner's Office officially ruled his death a homicide and an autopsy was scheduled to confirm the exact cause of death. The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division was called in to assist the Clarendon County Sheriff's Office with the investigation into the young man's death.
The initial investigation provided few leads, and authorities reached out to the public for any information regarding the fatal shooting. For several weeks, no suspects were publicly identified, and a motive for the killing remained elusive. Friends and family of the beloved young man took to social media to share their grief and remember him. The community was left seeking answers as law enforcement worked to piece together the events that led to the teenager's untimely death.
In late January 2020, a significant development in the case emerged as the Clarendon County Sheriff's Office announced the arrest of two individuals. Jevon Isaiah Swanigan and Traevion Tylek York, both 18 years old and residents of Manning, were taken into custody. It was reported that both suspects knew Martavis McKenzie. Following an investigation that involved the Clarendon County Sheriff's Office, the Manning Police Department, and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, arrest warrants were served. Both Swanigan and York were charged with one count of murder and one count of possession of a weapon during a violent crime. Authorities stated that it appeared a personal vendetta against McKenzie was the motive behind the murder. The investigation was described as ongoing, and law enforcement encouraged anyone with additional information to come forward.
