Three arrested in connection to deadly Budgetel Inn shooting

AUGUSTA, Ga. – The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office has arrested three men in connection to last week’s deadly shooting at a Downtown Augusta motel.

At around 11:12 p.m. on Feb. 4, deputies responded to the Budgetel Inn on the 900 block of Fifth St. for a reported shooting. When they arrived, deputies discovered that twenty-nine-year-old Daytron Merriweather of Augusta had been taken to University Hospital, where he later died from his injuries. Another victim, twenty-three-year-old Ashton Rouse of Edgefield, was taken to another hospital and later released.

Investigators were able to tie Rouse and two others to the shooting, twenty-year-old Devonte West of Edgefield and twenty-six-year-old Rahim Brown of Thomson. Investigators have taken all three suspects into custody. Rouse is charged with murder, armed robbery, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime. West and Brown are charged with murder, armed robbery, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime.

All three suspects have been committed to the Charles B. Webster Detention Center.