Columbia store clerk killed in robbery

A Columbia convenience store clerk with Warren County ties was murdered on the job Monday night when two black men entered the store and shot her twice in the chest during a robbery.

The victim has been identified as Vada Pauline White, 50, of Mt. Pleasant. White had been a longtime employee of Spur Market on Carmack Boulevard where the murder took place.

?There was nothing she could do,? said Columbia police detective Jeremy Haywood. ?She didn?t fight, didn?t struggle. They walked in and immediately shot her. The whole ordeal took 26 seconds.?

The murder took place just after 10 a.m. Monday night. White died a short time later at Maury Regional Hospital.

Robbery is believed to be the motive as the two males took a store cash register. Both shots were fired by the same man.

Information received from witnesses and video surveillance identified one of the two men as Ty Bruster, a 25-year-old from Columbia. Bruster was arrested on charges unrelated to White?s murder and was questioned by police.

However, he is no longer considered a prime suspect. Police are now calling him a person of interest.

?We have several leads coming in and we are working those leads,? said Haywood, who declined to release any specific information or say why Bruster was downgraded on the suspect list.

White was the sister of Rock Island resident Freddie Wright. White is said to have spent time in Warren County growing up, but attempts to reach the family to determine how much time she spent in Warren County were unsuccessful.

Investigators say they will release partial footage from the surveillance tape to help identify the criminals responsible. Anyone with information is asked to call Columbia police at (931) 380-2721.