Teen killed in drive-by shooting saved siblings from murderer as a child, family says

Family said that before Quinten Keyvon Martin was killed in a “senseless” drive-by shooting while on his way home from work, he lived through a horrific tragedy as a young boy, WXIA reported.

It was nearly a decade ago when a neighbor entered his home and stabbed his mother and grandmother as the young Quinten grabbed his baby siblings and hid, Martin’s aunt Trini Jones said, according to the station.

“His mother and grandmother were stabbed to death by the neighbor. While it was happening, he took his baby sister and brother and put them in the closet and hid. Once it got (quiet) in the house he went and locked the door,”Jones said, according to CBS 46.

Stephen Bailey was later indicted for malice murder and other charges in the slayings, and was found guilty but insane on all charges, according to a court filing.

“What kind of man would walk in a house and do that to women like that? That’s a coward,” Martin’s surviving grandmother, Teresa Foster, said at the time, according to a 2010 story about the stabbings from WSB.

Now Martin’s family is mourning his death as well, at the hands of an unknown killer who shot him and his manager after the manager gave him a ride back from Zaxby’s, where he was working after school on Oct. 24, WXIA reported.

A GoFundMe page for Martin says the teen was talking with the manager outside his Covington, Ga., home when a car pulled up and “shots rumbled throughout the air,” cutting the two victims down. The manager survived and was being treated at an Atlanta hospital, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. Martin was killed.

“These same sidewalk and streets, shared with many of the neighborhood children, now bleeds Quinten’s blood for justice and the strength to overcome another victims of gun violence,” the GoFundMe page says. “A protector, a giver whom did things the right way. Quinten was a kid living his best life, doing what he ought to be doing. Quinten stayed out of the streets, NEVER in trouble, loved and took care of his siblings, loved his family and friends, made great grades in school, and respected his elders.”

The page says he intended to join the Air Force reserve and train to be a pilot.

“He could have used that to do the wrong way, but instead, he was an honor roll student. He was the type of kid you only wish you had,” Martin’s uncle Steve Strickland said, according to WXIA.

“Y’all just took everything away from him at an early age. It was senseless,” Martin’s father, Roddrick Foster, said, according to WSB. He said he believed his son was not the intended victim of the shooting.

Alcovy High School, where Martin was a student, sent “prayers of comfort and healing” to the community.

Police are still looking for leads on the shooter, and a vigil was held for Martin Saturday with around 100 people, CBS 42 reported.