Six from Tabor City now in custody in Loris slaying

By DEUCE NIVEN

tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com

     Six Tabor City area residents, three men and three women, have been charged in an Aug. 7 shooting that left a Greensboro woman dead, another woman injured, Lt. Larry Williams of the Loris Police Department said Friday.

     Four of the six were arrested Thursday, Aug. 15, two by Loris police, two by the Columbus County Sheriff’s Office.

     Four of the six were blood relatives. All six were charged with murder and attempted murder.

Multiple gunshots

     Kenasia Martin, 22, of Greensboro, died of multiple gunshot wounds at McLeod Loris hospital following the 1:30 p.m. shooting in the 4300 block of Walnut Street in Loris, Williams said in a news release Friday.

     Feleshia Ann Goodman, 24, of Herbert Norris Road, Tabor City, was arrested by Columbus County Vice/Narcotics detectives later the same day and held on an LPD fugitive warrant.

     Lilly Janealle Stephens, 33, of Pireway Road in Tabor City, was charged Aug. 12 following an interview with detectives at the Loris Police Department. She was held without bond at the J. Reuben Long Detention Center near Conway. Stephens is Goodman’s sister.

     Arrested by the Loris Police Department Thursday and held without bail at J. Reuben Long Detention Center near Conway were:

• Antonio Dewayne Goodman, 53, of Tabor City. He is the father of Feleshia Goodman and Lilly Stephens.
• William Thatcher Goodman, 51, of Tabor City. He is Antonio Goodman’s brother.

     Arrested in Columbus County Thursday and held awaiting extradition to South Carolina were:

• Zarius Oshea Vereen, 31, of Ridgeland Acres Drive, Tabor City.
• Ebony Shanell Vereen, 32, who shows an address of Pinewood Lane, Whiteville.

     Zarius and Ebony Vereen are husband and wife. It was not clear if they are related to the Goodmans.

Violent hour

     Police responded to four calls in the same area of Walnut Street during the hour before Martin and the unnamed surviving victim, a 26 year-old woman, were shot inside their black Honda SUV, Williams said in the news release.

     Those details include:

• About 12:23 p.m. – Police responded to the area of 4303 Walnut Street after a caller reported hearing shots fired. Police spoke with Martin and the surviving victim, who both said “Feleshia Goodman came to their house, kicked the door in, gained entry and a physical altercation ensured.”

     Feleshia Goodman was not present, and during the course of speaking with police the victims “became uncooperative and wished to not pursue charges against Goodman.”

• About 12:53 p.m. – Officers responded to the area of 4635 Main Street, not far from the Walnut Street address, for an assault complaint.

     Antonio Goodman, in a 911 call, said his daughter Feleshia Goodman was assaulted at a mobile home in that area of Walnut Street.

     Police were unable to locate Feleshia Goodman, or any victim of an assault.

• About 1:01 p.m. – Officers responded to 4220 Main Street for a stolen cell phone complaint. They found the shooting victim who survived, and has not been named, who said that Feleshia Goodman followed her and Martin from their home on Walnut Street, and that Feleshia Goodman “was very upset after finding out that she and Martin were in a relationship together and confronted them at the gas station.”

     The surviving victim pulled “pulled her phone out to record the encounter and (Feleshia) Goodman snatched the phone and ran away from the scene.”

     Martin and the surviving victim then returned to their home.

• About 1:23 p.m. – Police responded to the area of 4303 Walnut Street after hearing gunshots. Still in the area because of the previous calls, officers “were able to respond to the scene within seconds of hearing the shots being fired.”

     Officers found the two women inside the Honda SUV “and immediately began to render first aid and CPR.”

     Martin was immediately taken to McLeod Loris, “where she succumbed to her injuries.”

     Shot “multiple times,” the surviving 26-year-old woman was taken to Grand Strand Medical Center.

     “During the course of the investigation, Loris Police Department identified six subjects directly involved in the murder of Kenasia Martin and the attempted murder of the unnamed surviving victim.”

     Look for more on this story in the next Tabor-Loris Tribune in print and online.