Killer sentenced in student’s 2019 death that shook nearby KSU campus
The family of a Kennesaw State University student shot to death by his neighbor has waited six long years for justice.
Since that deadly day — just months into her youngest son’s freshman year — Nengi Oyerinde has agonized knowing she will never hear his voice again. Oluwafemi Oyerinde, known as Femi, was just 18 when he was killed in an off-campus apartment complex across the street from KSU’s football stadium.
On Thursday, Kashman Thomas was sentenced to 25 years, a mix of prison and probation time, after pleading guilty to multiple charges, including voluntary manslaughter, reduced from malice murder.
“This tragedy has left a void that nothing and no one can ever fill,” wrote Nengi Oyerinde, in a statement read aloud by a prosecutor during the Cobb County hearing. “I still wake up some nights crying, sometimes from nightmares that bring me back to that awful day.”
She was not in court for the sentencing, but Femi’s father and one of his sisters were present to hear additional family statements read aloud.
Also injured in the Oct. 6, 2019, shooting were stepbrothers Jairus Bonner and Khalil Bennett, friends who were visiting Femi. At the time, they were both 18.
The three men were shot as they ran away from Thomas, then 21, who pulled a gun when challenged to a fistfight, prosecutors said. The slaying shook the university community, and hundreds attended a vigil on the Kennesaw campus to honor Femi’s memory. A couple thousand mourners attended his funeral, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously reported.
According to assistant district attorney Jared Horowitz, the ordeal started two days before the shooting, when Femi and his roommates received a noise complaint. One of those roommates and Bonner went to the downstairs apartment to address the situation, the state said.
Thomas’ attorney, Bruce Harvey, argued the men were there for a confrontation, not to make peace. Both the prosecution and defense acknowledged there had been a series of ongoing issues between the neighbors.
A fistfight broke out between Bonner and Thomas, and at some point, Horowitz said, Thomas flashed his firearm in his waistband, which ended the confrontation.
The tension would reignite the morning of Oct. 6, when Bonner, Bennett and Femi were in the complex parking lot and saw Thomas at a distance, prosecutors said. Horowitz said Bonner yelled out: “When am I going to get my one-on-one,” a reference to the earlier fight that was cut short.
Moments later, Thomas pulled out his weapon and fired 10 shots, the state said. All three men were shot in the back, consistent with running away, the prosecution emphasized.
Bonner, now 25 and serving in the U.S. Army, said the devastation of losing his childhood best friend compounded with the trauma he endured from a recent deployment to Israel, taking a major toll on his mental health.
“(Thomas) took away something that was, like, very near and dear to my heart,” he said in a video recording the prosecutors played for the court. “I still deal with that to this day. I still eat, sleep and breathe that pain every day. And it hurts, and I deal with it the best I can.”
The state initially asked for a 40-year sentence in a negotiated guilty plea to voluntary manslaughter, two counts of aggravated assault and illegal firearm charges.
The defense, however, brought in numerous character witnesses to push for a lighter sentence. Thomas also addressed the court, listing his high school academic and athletic achievements, as well as volunteer efforts. He talked about how growing up as an only child made it difficult for him to resolve conflicts.
“I’m remorseful for the situation that has brought us here today, and I hold myself accountable for my actions,” he said. “If I could go back and handle the situation differently, I would. This situation has also taught me to think before I act, and instead of just reacting, try to evaluate the situation better … the person that I was when I got locked up, that y’all are familiar with, I’m no longer that person. I’ve grown, and I worked on myself.”
Cobb Superior Court Judge Kellie Hill ultimately ruled Thomas may be released on probation after serving 15 years of his sentence, for which he has been given credit for the time served since he was jailed after turning himself in days after the shooting.
Femi’s family, in the meantime, is stuck grieving the milestones the young man will never reach.
“Femi was a good son,” his mother’s statement read. “He had dreams, and he had a future. All of that was taken from him and from me. The person responsible didn’t just take one life. They destroyed the peace of an entire family.”
