The mother of a father of four who was shot to death at a Los Angeles gas station recalled the final conversation she had with her son as she pleaded for help in identifying his killer at a press conference on Wednesday.
Melanie Gammage said her son, Marquette Scott, 32, was shopping for Christmas gifts on Dec. 3, 2023, when he stopped in the Vermont Knolls area to buy gas and then drove back to Victorville. Scott’s mother was sick at their home in a desert community northeast of Los Angeles. Scott was visiting Southern California from Las Vegas after finding a hard-to-find special edition video game for one of his children at a Target in the South Los Angeles area.
“He called me and said he was on his way home,” Gammage said. “I stayed up waiting and ended up falling asleep.”
A text message sent after midnight went unanswered.
“I thought maybe he was on the highway,” Gammage said, “and then at 7 a.m. I got the call that he was dead. He’d been shot and killed.”
Scott was sitting in his SUV next to the gas pumps at the Sinclair gas station near the intersection of Manchester and Hoover Roads when an individual in a white Jeep Compass pulled up in front of his SUV. A masked individual emerged from the back seat of the SUV and immediately fired shots into the driver’s side of Scott’s vehicle.
On December 3, 2023, Marquette Scott was shot and killed at a gas station where he had stopped after holiday shopping. John Cadiz Klemack reports on NBC4 News at 11:00 PM on July 12, 2024.
The second gunman opened fire from a convenience store parking lot.
Scott died at the scene.
Crime scene photos showed a special edition Spider-Man Sony PlayStation 5 on the floor of the back seat of Scott’s SUV. There was also a child car seat inside the vehicle. Gammage said the children usually went everywhere with Scott, but that wasn’t the case that day.
The tragedy left the family grieving for several days before Christmas.
“It was really sad,” Gammage said. “We have our kids and grandkids over every year. We still celebrate, but it’s not as fun.”
Melanie Gammage holds up a drawing made by one of her son’s children during a press conference on Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024.
At a news conference with LAPD investigators on Wednesday, Gammage held up photos of her son, some of him with their four children. One photo was a hand-drawn drawing by Scott’s daughter that Gammage said showed people crying and missing Scott.
“My father never harmed anyone. He was a loving man. He was very happy every day,” Gammage said. “He had four beautiful children and they would wake up crying every day before school.”
“I can’t sleep at night. I can’t eat. I just want justice for my child. If we can get that, that would be great.”
Authorities said the motive for the shooting, which appears to have been random, remains unclear, and investigators are still trying to identify the shooter, who was seen on security camera footage at the gas station.
“Someone, somewhere knows the person who committed this heinous act,” said LAPD Capt. Jamie Bennett. “I urge them to find the courage to come forward. As a community, we need to come together. Mr. Scott was simply out buying gifts for his children and needed fuel for his car, and he was viciously gunned down as he was sitting there filling up his car with gas.”
LAPD News: Reward offered for information about 2023 South Los Angeles murder pic.twitter.com/on5ZCeRsB7
— LAPD PIO (@LAPDPIO) August 21, 2024
A $50,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the shooting investigation. In a social media post on Wednesday, the Los Angeles Police Department released information about the incident, as well as 90 seconds of gas station security camera footage that captured the violent incident on Dec. 3, 2023.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call South Bureau Homicide Detectives at 323-786-5110. After hours or on weekends, call 1-877-LAPD-24-7 (1-877-527-3247). Those wishing to remain anonymous may call LA Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (800-222-8477) or visit www.lacrimestoppers.org directly. Finally, tipsters can also download the “P3 Tips” mobile application and select LA Regional Crime Stoppers as their local program.
