20-year-old charged with murder after shooting man, leaving him in the road, cops say

Months after a Midlands man was shot and left to die on a Columbia road, his killer was arrested, the Richland County Sheriff’s Department said Wednesday.

Jerod Dequin Goodwin, 20, was charged with murder, possession of a weapon during a violent crime, and grand larceny, the sheriff’s department said in a news release.

On Aug. 15, Goodwin killed his acquaintance, 28-year-old Genesis Williams, according to the release. Williams was an Eastover resident, according to Richland County Coroner Naida Rutherford.

Investigators determined Goodwin and Williams had been at a club together prior to the shooting, the sheriff’s department said.

After leaving the club, the two began arguing in Williams car, according to the release. They stopped and got out of the vehicle in the 2000 block of Dominion Drive, where Goodwin pulled out a gun and shot Williams, the sheriff’s department said. That’s near the intersection with Caughman Road, about a mile from Garners Ferry Road.

Goodwin then drove away in Williams’ car, leaving him in the street, according to the release.

Deputies responding to a shots fired call found Williams at about 7 a.m., the sheriff’s department said. Williams, who had been shot in the lower body, was taken to an area hospital where he died, according to the release.

No other injuries were reported.

Information on what the men argued about was not available.

On Nov. 30, more than three months after the shooting, members of the Midlands Gang Fugitive Task Force tracked Goodwin down at a family member’s home in Lexington, the sheriff’s department said.

He was arrested without incident and locked up at the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center, according to the release. No bond has been set for Goodwin, who remains behind bars, jail records show.

There was no word how investigators determined Goodwin was the shooter, or how they found where he was in Lexington.

This is a developing story, check back for updates.