On a summer day in Edgefield, South Carolina, 29-year-old Leric Merriweather was enjoying a cookout with his family, including his two young sons. The gathering on June 6, 2015, took an unfortunate turn when a verbal dispute broke out. Merriweather asked everyone involved in the altercation, including a man named Montrell Deshawn Troutman, to leave his property.
Later that evening, the conflict escalated dramatically.
Around 8:45 p.m., approximately four hours after the initial argument, Troutman returned, this time armed with a gun. He confronted Merriweather, who was sitting in his vehicle with two friends, Keith Mathis and Carlo Harris, on Moragne Street. As the three men got out of the car, Troutman loaded his weapon. Following a brief exchange of words, Troutman fired, striking Merriweather in the chest. The bullet fatally pierced his lungs, and he died a short time later at a local hospital. As Mathis and Harris fled, Troutman fired at them as well, injuring Harris in the leg; Mathis was unharmed.
After the shooting, Troutman fled the scene and went to a friend's house, where he reportedly boasted about what he had done. He then hid in a wooded area for close to an hour before turning himself in to the police shortly after the incident. The investigation was handled by the Edgefield Police Department with assistance from the Edgefield County Sheriff's Office and the Johnston Police Department.
Montrell Deshawn Troutman, a 38-year-old from Miami, Florida, was arrested and charged in the killing. Following a week-long trial that relied heavily on eyewitness testimony, he was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter, assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime. On October 20, 2017, Troutman was sentenced to 40 years in prison. Merriweather's family, including his two sons, who were 5 and 8 at the time, were present for the trial and spoke at the sentencing hearing.
