The suspect of the Oct. 6 Stadium Village shooting turned himself in Tuesday, Oct. 15, to the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office Fugitive Unit and members of a United States Marshal Task Force in response to an arrest warrant, according to the Cobb County Police Department’s Public Information Release.
Kashman Rael Thomas, 22, is accused of killing 18-year-old Kennesaw State freshman engineering student Oluwafemi Oyerinde and wounding 18-year-old Khalil Bennett and 18-year-old Jarius Bonner at the Stadium Village apartment complex the morning of Sunday, Oct. 6.
Thomas is charged with six felonies — murder and aggravated assault with three counts of intent to murder and two counts of aggravated battery or disfigurement, according to the MDJ.
Thomas was also charged with one felony of possession of marijuana and two misdemeanor battery charges. As previously reported by the Sentinel, investigators found 159 grams of marijuana in his apartment. Attached to the felony and misdemeanors is a $5,000 bond and $3,000 bond, respectively, according to the MDJ.
The arrest warrant for Thomas was issued Thursday, Oct. 10, by the Cobb County Police Department. Thomas is now being held at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center without bond.
The investigation began the morning of Oct. 6, when Cobb County Police arrived at Stadium Village after the shooting. Oyerinde was declared dead at the scene, and Bennett and Bonner were taken to Wellstar Kennestone Hospital in Kennesaw for the treatment of their injuries.
According to the MDJ, Thomas’ arrest warrant states that both Bennett and Bonner were disfigured from the shooting, suffering from internal and external injuries.
The MDJ reported that Thomas lived at Stadium Village. Police determined the shooting to be the result of an argument between neighbors that escalated, while the arrest warrant for Thomas was issued four days later by the Cobb County Police Department.
According to the MDJ, a U.S. Marshals agent working the case received a call from Thomas’ lawyer, saying Thomas would work with the Marshals and police to peacefully surrender, to which he surrendered Oct. 15.
Following the shooting, Oyerinde was honored with a candlelight vigil at KSU’s Legacy Gazebo, as well as a candlelight service at Harbins Park in Dacula, Georgia Oct. 10, according to the GoFundMe for Oyerinde’s funeral.
“Can’t believe we write of him in the past tense,” youth leader and family friend Oludapo Akinropo said on the GoFundMe. “Femi was an only son and baby of the house, he was also a son to many, always willing to help others, a church youth volunteer, a Mechanical Engineering student excited about his future. An entire community mourns over a life taken too soon from us.”
