In the late hours of a Thursday evening in Augusta, Georgia, the life of 29-year-old Daytron Rashad Merriweather, a Black male from Johnston, South Carolina, was brought to a tragic and violent end. On February 4, 2021, at the Budgetel Inn on Fifth Street, what began as an apparent robbery escalated into a fatal shooting. Merriweather was shot at least once during the encounter.
He was quickly transported to University Hospital, but his injuries proved too severe, and he was pronounced dead at 11:38 p.m.
The motive behind the deadly shooting was determined to be a robbery, with reports indicating that the individuals involved had stolen marijuana from Merriweather. The incident also resulted in another person being shot twice and sustaining injuries. An investigation into the homicide was launched by the Richmond County Sheriff's Office, which soon led to the identification and apprehension of three suspects.
The three men arrested in connection with the murder of Daytron Merriweather were Ashton Rouse and Devonte West, both from Edgefield, and Rahim Brown of Thompson, Georgia. All three faced serious charges, including murder, armed robbery, and possession of a firearm or knife during the commission of a crime. In a twist of events, one of the suspects, Ashton Rouse, was also shot during the incident and required hospital treatment for his injuries before being taken into custody. Following his release from the hospital, Rouse, along with West and Brown, was booked into the Richmond County Detention Center.
