Jewayne Price, 25, of Columbia, has been sentenced to 35 years in prison for his involvement in the Columbiana Centre Mall mass shooting, which occurred on April 16, 2022, in Lexington County’s Harbison area. Price was convicted by a Lexington County jury on two counts of Attempted Murder and nine counts of Assault and Battery of a High and Aggravated Nature, following the shooting that left nine bystanders injured while shopping at the mall on Easter weekend.
Amari Smith, 24, also from Columbia, pleaded guilty in October 2022 to similar charges, including Attempted Murder and nine counts of Assault and Battery of a High and Aggravated Nature. Another co-defendant, Marquise Robinson, 22, was convicted in a separate trial in November 2024, facing nine counts of Assault and Battery of a High and Aggravated Nature. Both Smith and Robinson are awaiting sentencing from Judge Walton J. McLeod IV.
During the sentencing, the court heard emotional testimony from several victims, including a 73-year-old woman who suffered life-altering injuries and a 16-year-old girl shot in the back while shopping. On the afternoon of the shooting, Price entered the mall with his girlfriend while illegally carrying a concealed firearm. Video footage showed Price entering through a main entrance marked with signs prohibiting weapons inside the mall.
The confrontation stemmed from a long-standing dispute between Price, Smith, and Robinson, related to a 2018 shooting death. The tension escalated when the parties crossed paths at the mall. Surveillance footage revealed Price pulling a 9mm firearm and aiming it at Robinson, leading to a gunfight between Price and Smith, which resulted in nine innocent bystanders being struck by gunfire.
Investigators found that at least 17 rounds were fired inside the mall, with 11 of those traced to Price’s 9mm Glock. The remaining six rounds were from a weapon carried by Smith. Robinson’s .40 caliber firearm was later recovered by law enforcement.
Three of the victims were directly injured by Price’s gunfire, including the 73-year-old woman and the 16-year-old teenager. Price has now been transported to the South Carolina Department of Corrections to begin serving his sentence.
