Azaveon Tavarus Raheem “Zay” Cook was a 21-year-old Black man who died on April 2, 2017, in Greenville, South Carolina. Late that Sunday afternoon, his final minutes unfolded in the space between a nearby apartment complex and a convenience store—an ordinary stretch of roadway that turned into the last leg of a desperate flight.
Investigators said the violence began at the Boulder Creek Apartments off Furman Hall Road, where an altercation escalated and gunfire followed.
Authorities described how everyone involved scattered after shots were fired. Video reviewed by the sheriff’s office showed Cook caught up in the confrontation; after the shooting, he ran from the complex and was picked up by a friend. A short time later, two shooting victims were brought to the Spinx gas station on North Pleasantburg Drive, where bystanders tried to help, but Cook was pronounced dead at the scene with at least one gunshot wound.
While the crime scene was being pieced together, authorities also pointed to details that lingered like a trailing thread: a white Crown Victoria—its rims darkened and a yellow paper tag on display—seen leaving the apartment complex after the shots. The sheriff spoke publicly about how close the danger came to bystanders, saying children were nearby just before the gunfire, and he urged anyone who had seen anything to come forward.
Within days, investigators announced arrests. Greenville County Sheriff Will Lewis said Anthony Kwame “Cheese” Mays, 26, was arrested and charged with murder, attempted murder, possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Deputies also arrested Marcus Antonio Foster, 21, after he turned himself in; Foster was charged with murder, possession of a weapon during a violent crime, and conspiracy. A third person, Shyheem Hassam Rice, was later arrested and charged with murder and conspiracy; an arrest warrant referenced in reporting said Rice initiated the confrontation that ended with one man dead and another injured.
Court and corrections records later reflected that Mays’ case moved beyond the initial headlines: he was convicted and sentenced to 40 years for murder and 30 years for attempted murder in Greenville County, and an appellate decision filed December 21, 2022 noted he appealed his convictions and sentences but the court affirmed. South Carolina Department of Corrections records list Mays as serving those sentences.
