Marcus Kennedy was a 24-year-old Black male from Columbia, South Carolina, known to friends and family as "Chip," who had his life tragically cut short during the early morning hours of Mother's Day on May 11, 2014. A graduate of Eau Claire High School and an employee at Michelin North America, he was attending a gathering at a residence in the 1500 block of Cody Street when violence erupted.
Kennedy, who did not reside at the home, was inside with other acquaintances when the atmosphere turned deadly shortly before 1:00 a.m.
Witnesses at the scene reported that shots were fired inside the house following an altercation. Kennedy was struck in the upper body by gunfire and ultimately succumbed to his injuries at the scene, with the Richland County Coroner ruling his death a homicide caused by complications from the gunshot wound. A female victim was also wounded during the chaotic event but was transported to a local hospital where she received treatment for non-life-threatening injuries. The shooter fled the premises immediately after the attack, leaving investigators to piece together the events of that night through witness statements and forensic evidence.
Ten days after the shooting, on May 21, 2014, law enforcement officials apprehended a suspect in connection with Kennedy's death. Two off-duty Columbia police officers spotted 20-year-old Charles James Byrd Jr., whom they recognized as the person sought for the crime. They called for backup and successfully took him into custody without further incident. Byrd was subsequently charged with murder and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime. Investigators revealed that the shooting was not a random act but likely stemmed from a previous dispute between the suspect and the victims.
As the legal process moved forward, the case against Charles James Byrd Jr. expanded significantly. In March 2016, while Byrd was already incarcerated at the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center awaiting trial for the murder of Marcus Kennedy, authorities served him with an additional arrest warrant for a separate homicide. Police charged him with the November 2013 shooting death of 21-year-old Willie Gilmore, an incident that had occurred at a home on Bailey Street. This development indicated that Byrd was the primary suspect in two separate killings within a six-month span, and he remained in custody facing multiple counts of murder as prosecutors built their cases for both fatal shootings.
