Police believe Columbia man’s 2016 shooting death is linked to prior shooting that day
Editor's Note: This article has been updated to remove the names of the victims in the shooting at the I-70/63 connector on the same day. The video has also been removed.
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Friday marks nine years since Garbrielle Rhodes Jr. was shot and killed in northeast Columbia.
Police say they believe a shooting earlier in the day "is in direct relation to this homicide." According to the Columbia Police Department, officers were dispatched to the Deerfield Apartment Complex on Sylvan Lane around 7:45 p.m. on April 25, 2016, for a shots-fired call.
CPD Lt. Matt Gremore recalls it being a "pretty chaotic" scene. In a recent interview with ABC 17 News, he said he was called into work that night to help out. He noted the scene was different than other homicide scenes he's worked.
"The first priority is to make sure it's (the scene is) safe and to make sure the shooter is not still on the scene. And then the second is to provide aid to the victim," Gremore said. "In this situation, it was a little bit different because we had three people that were involved in a shooting that were present."
Rhodes, 24, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Jackie Buchanan, Rhodes' mother, recalls her son as being someone who loved to sing and rap. She said her son was a family man and father of three.
"If he was your friend, he was your friend, no matter what the situation might have been," Buchanan said. "That was one reason why they killed him, because he was trying to protect one friend."
April 25, 2016 -1:45 P.M.
According to court documents, earlier in the day, an argument occurred at the Boone County Courthouse. A woman reported to police that a person with the last name "Banks" had "threatened to kill her."
After leaving the courthouse, the woman, a man and another woman were in a vehicle traveling north on Highway 63, according to court documents.
Court documents say as they drove toward the connector, a black vehicle pulled up next to them and two people -- whose names were redacted -- started shooting at them.
Court documents say police responded to Women and Children's Hospital at 2:38 p.m. Police wrote that the woman had an injury to her left leg and the man had an injury to the left side of his face. Officials could not determine if the injuries were caused by bullets or flying debris from the shooting.
The man was taken into custody for an unrelated warrant around 5:30 p.m.
April 25, 2016 - 7:45 p.m.
On April 25, 2016, Rhodes was shot and killed at the Deerfield Apartment Complex on Sylvan Lane. At the time, neighbors told ABC 17 News, they saw "young people" running from the scene after shots were fired around 7:45 p.m.
"I think that there was a group of people that were with Rhodes when he was shot," Gremore said. "I think that those people know exactly what happened, and I think even the associates of those people would know exactly what happened, based on having conversations about it."
Previous reporting indicates at least 34 Columbia police officers were at the 2016 homicide scene.
"There was chaos, absolute chaos," Gremore said. "There's a lot of people, emotions of course, extremely high which is understandable."
ABC 17 News anchor Lucas Geisler was reporting at the scene that night. He recalled a massive law enforcement presence and many bystanders on Sylvan Lane.
"I can see physically myself: People bawling, crying, people embracing each other, crying, screaming out," Geisler said. "
Gremore said when police got to the scene, the suspects from the Highway 63/I-70 connector shooting from earlier in the day were immediately taken into custody on suspicion of assault. Those men were Johnathan Banks, Joseph Luckett and Lajuan Martin.
"We had three people that were involved in the shooting, they were present so the arrest of them was imperative to the same time as trying to render aid to Rhodes," Gremore said.
Police say the two scenes were connected.
"That would be the idea that the shooting at 2:30-2:38 p.m. on the same day, is in direct relation to this homicide," Gremore said.
Buchanan told ABC 17 News that Rhodes was inside the car with Luckett and Martin at the time of the first shooting. Though, she said, Rhodes did not fire a gun.
About five hours later, Rhodes was dead.
"They knew my son would fight, and it meant for his friend," Buchanan said. "He just managed to be the one outside, when they came through."
Prosecutors ended up dropping charges against Banks for the connector shooting.
Multiple charges were also dropped against Luckett and Martin. Both men pleaded guilty later that year to resisting arrest in connection with the connector shooting.
They were both sentenced to five years of probation, though it was revoked in 2017 for Luckett and 2019 for Martin. They both were sentenced to four years in prison.
April 26, 2016 - 12:30 p.m.
Around 12:30 p.m. on the day after Rhodes was shot, Columbia police arrested Orlando Turner in the area of Bryant and Trinity streets on suspicion of unlawful use of a weapon. Court documents state police saw Turner walking in the area and he was "reportedly at the scene of a homicide."
Court documents say Turner had a concealed handgun in his hoodie pocket. Documents claim Turner admitted to not having a conceal-and-carry permit and admitted to being at the scene of the homicide "minutes prior to the fatal shooting."
“The shooting” referred to in court documents was the scene of Rhodes' death.
Court documents also state "Turner's associates were arrested at the scene of [redacted name's] murder, for a shooting which occurred just hours prior." In this statement, court documents are referring to Banks, Martin and Luckett.
Turner later pleaded guilty unlawful use of a weapon for having the concealed gun, but did not face any charges related to the homicide.
Nine years later - April 2025
"At this time, we still don't have any leads on who caused the death of Rhodes," Gremore said. "I'm pleading for someone that has information of what happened, comes down to the police department and talk about it."
Buchanan described her son as a true friend to those he loved.
"If he was your friend, he was your friend. no matter what the situation might have been," Buchanan said. "That was one reason why they killed him, because he was trying to protect one friend."
Regardless of Rhodes' past, Gremore said investigators can't just look at a person's criminal history.
"That's a person that had their life taken away from them and that's the only thing that matters," Gremore said. "You have to go to the mom and say, ‘Someone took your son's life.’ That's the worst news they're ever going to hear."
"He was my world, he was my heart," Buchanan said. "I just want some closure that's all. It's been 10 years now. Nobody's speaking on it. And if they speak you know, its all in silence, it's like all through the streets."
Buchanan is asking the community to come forward to help bring her and her family some closure.
"I would like for the people that were out there that day to come forward, you know, because if the shoe was on the other foot, they would want some closure," Buchanan said. "They would want someone to come speak up for their kid. "
Gremore said this case is similar to many others where law enforcement needs the community's help to solve it.
"When you have an unsolved homicide, there's people out there that want answers, that deserve answers and they don't they don't have them," Gremore said. "It makes the community feel less safe knowing that someone killed someone and has not been held accountable for it."
Gremore said he understands why some individuals may not come forward to police.
"I think there's a variety of reasons [why a person would not come forward to police]," CPD Lt. Matt Gremore said. "I don't think anybody wanted to be labeled as a ‘snitch.’ It's a big part that we have to overcome. I can understand it, but it does not stop the violence by doing that," Gremore said.
Police are asking anyone to come forward with any information about this case.
"The family still deserves answers and someone needs to be held accountable for the murder," Gremore said.
