Richmond County authorities have arrested a convicted felon for allegedly spraying an Allen Homes residence with bullets early Wednesday, killing a 3-year-old boy sleeping inside and injuring a woman.
Carl Bain Gant III, 32, is facing charges of murder, weapon possession, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and three counts of aggravated assault, authorities said. The shootings at 1102 New Savannah Road killed 3-year-old Bryson Murray and injured 40-year-old Cherrelle Murray, who is believed to be his mother. Two others inside were not harmed.
According to authorities, the gunman had been arguing with 40-year-old Willie Lewis and another man, wanting to get his girlfriend to leave their house. Gant and his girlfriend eventually got into a car to leave. But at some point, Gant pulled a gun and fired multiple shots into the back of the home, fatally shooting the child and injuring Cherrelle Murray.
RCSO officials issued public flyers for Lewis and Shynice Cannida on Wednesday morning, seeking them only for questioning. Cannida was later interviewed and released. While interviewing Gant’s girlfriend and other witnesses, investigators received multiple versions of what sparked the gunfire.
Either way, Gant is a convicted felon for a burglary conviction, and he wason probation for harboring an armed robbery suspect in March. He wasn’t supposed to own a gun. His criminal history dates back to his youth. (Story continues below)
As a teenager in 2010, Gant was charged with cocaine possession, a felony, but prosecutors allowed him to plead guilty to disorderly conduct and serve 12 months of probation. A marijuana possession charge also got him probation and a fine.
In 2013, he was first convicted of a felony in Richmond County with a guilty plea for burglary. Judge Amanda Heath ordered 120 days in jail, probation for two years and eight months, and 100 hours of community service. Yet, two years later, he was caught with two guns and pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, according to online court records. Judge Daniel J. Craig gave him five years of probation and no prison time for the offenses.
In 2023, he was charged and later convicted of DUI and sent to jail for 24 hours and a fine.
In March of this year, he was charged with harboring fugitive Darrion Williams, who was wanted for an armed robbery on a mail carrier. Gant confessed to detectives that he had previously been told that Williams, his nephew, was wanted for armed robbery, yet he let the fugitive stay in his apartment on Richmond Hill Road. That is where agents with the U.S. Marshal’s Service found Williams, but Gant said he wouldn’t exit the house until his nephew came out safely.
Gant pled guilty the next month to a reduced charge of misdemeanor obstruction, receiving probation and community service from Judge Monique Walker.
Meanwhile, Wednesday’s killing of an innocent toddler while he was sleeping has shaken Augusta to its core.
Area resident Jessica Ashley May said it is hard to ignore that this is becoming increasingly normal. “What is being done about it? A child, A BABY is dead,” she wrote on Facebook. “There should be outrage over this.”
Mary Lovett agreed, offering a prayer of protection over local babies. “I pray for justice for this baby and healing of this woman,” she wrote. “I just don’t understand how or why this is happening more and more lately.”
In recent years, the Augusta-Aiken area has seen a troubling number of child homicides, many involving innocent young victims caught in gun violence while simply going about their lives.
Ten-year-old Lavinia Lowe was killed in June while asleep in her Beech Island home after it was riddled with bullets in a gang-related shooting. Investigators later revealed the intended target hadn’t lived there in over 18 months.
Miyah Harp, a 10-year-old girl, died in Aiken County last November after being shot in the chest in what was believed to be an accidental shooting involving a family member handling a small caliber rifle.
In 2022, 8-year-old Arbrie Anthony lost her life in a drive-by shooting while admiring a horse brought to her Augusta neighborhood. The gang-related gunfire, unrelated to her, struck her as she stood outside.
Then in March 2023, 13-year-old Buddy Brown was gunned down outside his downtown Augusta apartment as he retrieved a DoorDash order in the early morning hours.
