In the early hours of a Saturday morning in Columbia, South Carolina, a dispute escalated into a fatal exchange of gunfire, leaving two men dead. On February 17, 2018, 18-year-old Marques A. Hallman was fatally wounded following an argument with a cab driver.
The incident began when Hallman and two other teenagers requested a Blue Ribbon cab.
Upon reaching their destination on Johnson Avenue shortly before 1 a.m., an argument broke out between Hallman and the driver, 38-year-old Rayvon Wilmot, over the cab fare. The verbal altercation quickly turned violent, with both Hallman and Wilmot reportedly shooting each other inside the vehicle.
Hallman sustained multiple gunshot wounds to his upper body and was transported to a local hospital, where he died early that Saturday morning. Wilmot was also taken to the hospital with a gunshot wound to the head and succumbed to his injuries. The two other teenage passengers in the cab were not injured and fled the scene.
Law enforcement officials recovered the firearms used in the incident and stated that the investigation was ongoing. The Columbia Police Chief commented on the senselessness of the violence, highlighting that it was one of two fatal overnight shootings in the city involving teenagers and access to firearms. An autopsy confirmed that Marques Hallman's death was the result of multiple gunshot wounds to the torso. Known to his friends and family as 'Quezoo,' he was remembered as someone who enjoyed rapping and spending time with his siblings.
