By Betsy Finklea
A man pled guilty and was sentenced during the last term of court in the 2010 death of 19-year-old Bennie Osworth Anderson II of Mullins.
Isiah Marcus Brown received 45 years for murder; 30 years concurrent for armed robbery; five years concurrent for weapon possession; and five years concurrent for conspiracy.
Assistant Solicitor Shipp Daniel, who is prosecuting the case, declined to comment since two other men charged in the case—Matthew Randell Cade of Dillon and Mikal Rashad Bethea of Dillon— have yet to go to trial.
According to a witness account told in an incident report from March 22, 2010, the witness said that Anderson was shot in the left arm and the left side while they were sitting in his vehicle which was parked in front of a local apartment complex.
The witness alleged that Bethea, who is a co-defendant in this case, pointed a handgun at Anderson and demanded his money. Anderson told him to get the gun out of his face and handed over his wallet.
Bethea fired several shots at him, the report stated. One suspect stood at the passenger’s side door so the witness could not get out and the other stood at the back of the vehicle. Anderson and the witness made their way to the apartment where he collapsed.
The City of Dillon Police Department was in charge of the case.
