In the summer of 2024, the life of 36-year-old Shakema Toran, a Black/African American mother of three from Augusta, Georgia, was tragically cut short. Her story is one that began with concern and ended in heartbreak, leaving a family searching for answers and justice.
The last time Shakema Toran's family saw her alive was on July 31, 2024. She was with her boyfriend of two months, 37-year-old Barritz Martin, at her mother's home. An argument between the couple prompted Toran's mother to ask Martin to leave. He complied, only to return a couple of hours later to pick up Toran. It was a departure that marked the beginning of a nightmare for her loved ones. In the days that followed, a sense of unease grew as Toran's mother began receiving text messages from her daughter's phone that felt uncharacteristic and alarming.
The family's worst fears were realized on August 4, 2024, when police in Decatur, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta, responded to a call about a suspicious vehicle. In the parking lot of a Kroger grocery store on Wesley Chapel Road, they discovered a white 2004 Ford F-250, the same truck belonging to Barritz Martin. Inside, they found the body of Shakema Toran. An autopsy would later reveal that she had died from a gunshot wound to the chest. The DeKalb County Police Department immediately launched a homicide investigation into her death.
Investigators quickly focused on Barritz Martin as a person of interest. It was reported that he was on the run, and authorities began a search for him. Details of his capture remain scarce in public reports, but court records from the DeKalb County Magistrate Court dated April 25, 2025, indicate that Barritz Martin was charged with Malice Murder in connection with Shakema Toran's death. This development confirmed that he had been apprehended and was facing legal proceedings for her killing. The current status of his trial and whether a conviction has been secured are not readily available in the public domain.
