In an essay he wrote for school, 13-year-old LaKavis Henicks described himself as a strong young Black man with dreams for the future. He enjoyed playing basketball and football and looked forward to going to college, owning his own business, and one day having a family. Those dreams were cut short in the early morning hours of Labor Day 2007, when LaKavis, a male, was killed by a stray bullet in a convenience store parking lot, an innocent victim of a dispute he had no part in.
The night of his death began with a party at a cosmetology center on Fontaine Road in Columbia, South Carolina. As the party let out, groups of teenagers congregated in the parking lot of the nearby Gaz-Bah convenience store at 6201 Farrow Road. Around 1:00 a.m. on September 3, 2007, a fight broke out among some of the young people.
The fistfight quickly escalated when at least one person pulled out a gun and fired several shots into the crowd.
According to the Columbia Police Department, LaKavis was running away from the altercation when the gunfire erupted. He was struck by a bullet and died in the parking lot. From the beginning, investigators were certain that LaKavis was not the intended target. His father, Le-Vern Henicks, was adamant that his son was not involved in gangs and had good people around him.
Early in the investigation, police explored whether the shooting was gang-related, as some individuals present had gang affiliations. However, within weeks, they concluded the violence was not tied to gang activity but was the result of a personal fight that turned deadly. The central challenge for the Columbia Police Department investigators was not a lack of witnesses, but a lack of cooperation from them. Police believed many of the teens in the parking lot knew exactly who fired the gun.
The Gaz-Bah had surveillance cameras that captured the incident. From this footage, police identified a "strong person of interest," described as a young man aged 17 or older. Despite having this video evidence, authorities could not make an arrest without eyewitnesses willing to come forward and testify to what they saw. Interim Columbia Police Chief Harold Reaves and Captain Thomas Dodson both made public appeals for anyone who was in the parking lot or even driving by to share what they knew, but the case went cold.
Over the years, the Columbia Police Department has made efforts to revive the investigation. In January 2015, LaKavis's homicide became the first case featured in a new cold case video series launched by the department, hoping the passage of time would encourage someone to speak up. The department highlighted the case again in September 2016. Still, no arrests have been made.
As of August 2026, the murder of LaKavis Henicks remains an open and unsolved cold case with the Columbia Police Department. The case is also listed with Midlands Crime Stoppers. Investigators continue to seek the crucial piece of information that will allow them to bring justice for the boy who was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Anyone with information is urged to contact Midlands Crime Stoppers.
