2nd suspect arrested in south Augusta murder case

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – A second suspect has been arrested in connection with a shooting late last year that claimed the life of a 20-year-old in south Augusta.

The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office said late Friday afternoon that Rashaun Malik McAllister-Lawrence, 19, was arrested in Columbia County with the assistance of the U.S. Marshal’s Fugitive Task Force and the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office.

He’d been named as a suspect in the Nov. 5 murder of Isaiah McKnight, 20, at Glenn Hills Drive and Claudia Drive.

After the shooting, emergency medical crews were called to the 3600 block of Goldfinch Drive, where the victim lived. They found McKnight and took him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

McAllister-Lawrence had active arrest warrants for felony murder and aggravated assault, according to the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office.

Another suspect, Frashawn Sankoh, 18, was arrested on May 25 and is charged with murder and aggravated assault, according to inmate bookings.

According to the arrest warrant, a co-defendant drove Sankoh and McKnight to the incident location, where they fired shots at two other subjects.

The warrant states the subjects shot back. This is when McKnight was shot and died as a result, the warrant states.

The shooting is among a string of them that have claimed more than 100 lives across the CSRA in the past year and a half.

The violent crime has affected communities large and small on both sides of the Savannah River, but Augusta as the largest city has been hit especially hard.

Authorities have blamed much of the problem on gangs. Many of the suspects and victims, like McKnight, have been young men.

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