Jasmine Trice, a 30-year-old Black woman and beloved mother of four, was remembered by her sister as someone who would do anything for the people she loved. According to friends, she was trying to help a friend in need when her life was cut short on the afternoon of March 1, 2021. Around 4 p.m., Ms. Trice was driving her Nissan Altima with her friend, 28-year-old Kiera Williams, in the passenger seat. Williams’ six-year-old daughter was in the back seat.
They were in the parking lot of a Family Dollar store on Floyd Road in Columbus, Georgia, when a dark-colored SUV pulled up behind them. A man got out, hid his face, and fired into the passenger's side of the car.
Ms. Trice was found on the pavement next to the vehicle and was pronounced dead at the scene. Ms. Williams was rushed to a local hospital, where she also died from her injuries. Her young daughter, who witnessed the shooting, was physically unharmed and taken into the store by witnesses. The investigation quickly focused on Kiera Williams’ ex-boyfriend, 25-year-old Quartez Tremon Thomas. The couple had reportedly broken up two weeks earlier, and Williams had expressed fears for her safety. Just thirty minutes before she was killed, Williams had spoken with a police investigator to report that Thomas was harassing her.
Investigators learned that in the days leading up to the shooting, Thomas had sent threatening text messages to Williams. The night before the murders, he allegedly fired multiple shots into her parents’ home while four people, including her daughter, were inside. Police also said the Kia Sorento that Thomas drove to the Family Dollar had been carjacked from a Pizza Hut in Phenix City, Alabama, the day before that.
After the shooting, Thomas fled the area. He was located and arrested the following day in Phenix City, having shaved his head and beard in an apparent attempt to alter his appearance. He was extradited back to Columbus and booked into the Muscogee County Jail. During a preliminary hearing, Williams’ six-year-old daughter identified Thomas, whom she knew as “Trey,” as the man who shot her mother.
The case was sent to the Superior Court for further proceedings. In May 2021, a grand jury indicted Quartez Tremon Thomas on multiple charges, including two counts of malice murder, two counts of felony murder, aggravated assault, cruelty to children, and using a firearm to commit a felony. While in jail awaiting trial, Thomas was convicted of separate charges, including aggravated assault on a peace officer, for attacking a guard in May 2021. He was sentenced to prison time for those offenses. As of late 2023, Thomas remained held in a state prison while awaiting trial in the double homicide case.
