Man acquitted in bakery murder found guilty for drive-by shooting with ShotSpotter data (2024)

COLUMBIA— A man who was acquitted in the notorious 2013 murder of a Columbia baker was found guilty of a fatal drive-by shooting years later that killed a 62-year-old man. He was sentenced to life in prison.

It started with a house party and a bottle of Patron tequila one night in 2021. One person smashed the bottle on another person. He retaliated by leaving the party, grabbing a gun and firing numerous shots at the home.

No one was injured. But word quickly got out to Troy Stevenson, who is now 29. It was his mother's house.

Data from his cellphone and Facebook were pulled in a search warrant while devices from the gunshot detection system ShotSpotter pinpointed the time and location where shots were fired.

Using that information, prosecutors with the Fifth Judicial Circuit Solicitor's Office put together a timeline of Stevenson's steps, which played a key role in the 10-day trial.

ShotSpotter picked up 17 shots fired at Stevenson's mother's house. Within minutes, Stevenson had left his girlfriend's house and driven to his mother's.

Then, he got a message with an address on Devoe Drive. Minutes later, 14 shots were fired at the Devoe Drivehome, according to ShotSpotter data.

One bullet hit Charlie Jackson Jr., who was relaxing in bed and watching TV. He later died.

Shortly after the shooting, Stevenson messaged his girlfriend saying he was on his way back.

Ballistic evidence from a semi-automatic weapon was found at the scene.

After about 10 hours of deliberation, a jury found him guilty of murder and not guilty of possession of a weapon during a violent crime. The following day, on May 23, Circuit Judge Daniel Coble sentenced Stevenson to life in prison.

Jackson's wife, Ivy, said "justice was served."

She said her late husband was known as a gentle giant. Many knew him as Sunny. He'd have cookouts that would draw in the whole neighborhood and block off the street.

"Our house has not been the same,"she said "He was the glue to our family."

During the sentencing hearing, prosecutor Christopher Dale Scott read off Stevenson's track record, starting with 2011 when he was a juvenile.

"This is the third homicide he's been present for," Scott told the judge.

In 2013, Stevenson was arrested for alleged ties to the killing of Kelly Hunnewell, a 33-year-old single mother who was shot while working alone at a Columbia bakery. Stevenson, who was then 18, was the alleged lookout for the robbery attempt.

He sat in jail for more than five years awaiting trial. In 2018, a jury found him not guilty for Hunnewell's murder.

Criminal defense attorney Aimee Zmroczek described Stevenson as a young man who has had a hard life. She pointed out that there was a potential witness investigators did not interview.

"We certainly intend to appeal the jury's verdict," Zmroczek said.