In the late hours of a Saturday night in Sumter, South Carolina, tragedy struck at the Rodeway Inn on North Washington Street, resulting in the death of 28-year-old Raekwon Rasheen Reyes Owens. On January 25, 2025, at approximately 11 p.m., Sumter Police Department officers were dispatched to the motel following reports of a shooting. Upon their arrival, they discovered a grim scene.
Owens had succumbed to a gunshot wound and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Inside the motel room with Owens were two women. One, a 25-year-old from Sumter, was also injured in the shooting and was transported to a hospital in Columbia, where she was listed in stable condition. A third individual, a 26-year-old Sumter woman, was present during the incident but was fortunately not physically harmed. An autopsy for Owens was scheduled to be performed at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. The investigation soon revealed that the individuals involved were all acquainted with one another.
The investigation into the shooting quickly led to the identification of two suspects. The first, 34-year-old Tevon Demetrius Guess of Pinewood, was taken into custody the morning after the incident. He faced a slew of charges, including murder, two counts of attempted murder, possession of a weapon by a convicted felon, and possession of a weapon during a violent crime. Shortly thereafter, a second suspect, 39-year-old Melvin Shirell Belle of Sumter, was identified. Belle turned himself in to the authorities on the following Wednesday. He was charged with murder and two counts of attempted murder. Both men were booked at the Sumter County Sheriff's Office Detention Center as the investigation continued.
