Rock Hill man set to go on trial in death of Georgia Tech football player’s dad.

A Rock Hill man, accused in the 2016 fatal shooting of the father of a Georgia Tech football player, is set to go on trial Sept. 18, court records show.

Dwayne Fitzgerald Sims., 52, is accused of shooting Jerry Howard Sr. several times with a 9 millimeter handgun. Police said the murder weapon was semi-automatic.

Sims says he is “innocent,” court documents show.

Jerry Howard Sr. is the father of Jerry Howard Jr., a running back at Georgia Tech who starred at Northwestern High School. Howard Jr. said when signing with the Georgia Tech in 2016, just three days after the death of his father, that he knew the man charged with the crime.

Sims has been in jail without bond.

He was arrested the day after Jerry Howard Sr., 37, was fatally shot at mid-day in the middle of Rock Hill’s Amelia Avenue. Sims lived on the same block where the killing happened, police said.

In a handwritten letter from jail to the court, which is part of the public record file, Sims claimed he has been falsely identified as the killer.

“I’m a innocent man, and I’ve got a life outside these walls,” the letter states.

Police charged Sims with murder, possession of a weapon during a violent crime and illegal possession of firearm by a convicted felon, arrest warrants state. Officers found 9 millimeter bullets in a gym bag in Sims’ Amelia Avenue home, arrest warrants state.

Sims is charged with murder based on “recovered evidence,” “witness statements” and “police investigation,” warrants state.

In the court letter, Sims claims the evidence was recovered during an illegal search.

No motive for the crime has been released.

Prosecutors filed court documents last month, stating they are seeking a life without parole sentence for Sims if he is convicted. Sims has a previous conviction from the 1980s for assault and battery with intent to kill.

The trial in York comes just days before Georgia Tech plays No. 2 ranked Clemson on Saturday.

This story was originally published September 17, 2018 at 3:29 PM.