Chester man arrested in hit-and-run case previously arrested on murder charge

The Chester man accused of running into two kids on a moped this weekend was previously arrested in Chester County on a murder charge.

Montell DeAngelo Cousar, 24, was arrested in 2012 in a fatal shooting three years earlier on Saluda Street in Chester. Deputies charged Cousar in the death of 41-year-old Eddie James Hall.

On Oct. 24, 2009, deputies went to Hall’s house on Saluda Street after a 911 caller said shots had been fired into the house. Hall was found lying on the floor, shot in the head. Investigators from the Chester County Sheriff’s Office and the State Law Enforcement Division believe Hall was lying on the couch when a bullet came through the wall and hit him in the head.

A three-year investigation led to Cousar’s arrest. One month later, a second man, Keith R. Keener, 24, was also arrested in Hall’s murder.

Cousar had a $200,000 surety bond set at the time of his arrest. The status of the murder charge was unclear Tuesday afternoon.

Now, authorities say Cousar is responsible for a hit-and-run on Saturday that sent two children to the hospital. Cousar faces charges of driving too fast for conditions and leaving the scene of an accident with great bodily injury after the Saturday night collision one mile north of McConnells.

Cousar was reportedly traveling north on U.S. 321 at 9:45 p.m. when he approached two juveniles riding on a moped. He reportedly struck the moped from behind and then fled the scene, according to Lance Cpl. Gary Miller with the state Highway Patrol.

The driver of the moped was wearing a helmet and was transported to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte. The passenger, who the Highway Patrol reports was not wearing a helmet, was taken to Piedmont Medical Center in Rock Hill for treatment. Injuries to both were non-fatal, but no other information on their condition was available. The two juveniles are 13 and 14 years old.

Cousar was located by law enforcement in Chester and taken into custody. He was booked into the York County Detention Center on Monday night, and bond was denied.

Cousar’s arrest record includes an attempted murder from 2011, according to the State Law Enforcement Division. He was released on $30,000 bond in that case, which also has not been disposed in court.

Chester County is part of the Sixth Judicial Circuit, which has one of the worst case backlogs in the state.

Since his murder arrest, Cousar has been arrested several other times over the past year, including for unlawful carrying of a weapon and a misdemeanor conviction for possession of marijuana. Two weeks prior to the hit-and-run incident, Cousar was arrested again by the Chester County Sheriff’s Office on March 29 for public disorderly conduct.

This story was originally published April 13, 2015 at 8:31 PM with the headline "Chester man arrested in hit-and-run case previously arrested on murder charge."