Back in 2022, a teen was nearly caught up in a shooting that could’ve claimed his life. However, police say the shooter stalked him down to make sure he wouldn’t snitch and the end result was terrifying.
Defendant Martez Jefferson was convicted Thursday of charges stemming from the killing of 18-year-old Rayshod Goldthwaite. Police say their beef went wayyy back in 2019 when Jefferson’s friend shot at Goldthwaite when the two met for a Facebook Marketplace sale over a pair of shoes. Though Goldthwaite escaped death once, he still had a bounty on his head.
Months later, Jefferson was reported to have approached Goldthwaite at a pool party and threatened to shoot him and his family if they appeared in court to testify about his friend’s shooting offense, per AL.com.
However, even after Jefferson’s friend pleaded guilty his charges in related to the incident in 2022, police say Jefferson held his grudge. On June 5, 2022, Jefferson County Deputy District Attorney Tiffany Ould says Jefferson’s car was spotted lurking around a Shell gas station where they say he was stalking Goldthwaite and his friends.
Within minutes, nine shots were fired toward Goldthwaite’s vehicle, majority of which went through his driver side door. Police said Goldthwaite’s friends jumped the vehicle before it crashed into a nearby building where he was found by authorities. Goldthwaite was fatally struck in the heart and pronounced dead at the scene, according to medical personnel.
Jefferson was charged with capital murder, first-degree assault for a minor passenger and discharging a gun into an occupied vehicle in connection to Goldthwaite’s death. After two days of deliberation and two years of waiting for trial, the report says he was found guilty on all counts Thursday by a Jefferson County jury.
He’s to be sentenced in April and faces life in prison without parole, the report says.