In the late spring of 2017, the life of 19-year-old Kaliel C. Bey was cut short in Aiken, South Carolina. On the evening of May 26th, Bey was discovered in the parking lot of an apartment complex with gunshot wounds to his head and neck. He was transported to a hospital for treatment but succumbed to his injuries and passed away the following day. Both Bey and the man accused of his murder were residents of Aiken.
Following the shooting, an investigation was launched, which led
authorities to identify 20-year-old Tobias Thomas as the primary suspect. Believing Thomas had fled the state, law enforcement tracked him to Decatur, Georgia. On June 15, 2017, nearly three weeks after Bey's death, Thomas was apprehended at a residence in Decatur by the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office.
After his arrest in Georgia, Tobias Thomas was held in the DeKalb County jail, awaiting extradition back to Aiken, South Carolina. There, he was slated to face a murder charge in connection with the shooting death of Kaliel Bey. At the time of his arrest, a motive for the killing had not been publicly disclosed by investigators.
