Connecticut man killed a former football player from Rock Hill. He’s heading to prison
A Connecticut man will spend 15 years in prison for the 2018 killing of a former Rock Hill football player.
Dewight Sheldon Baird, 38, pleaded guilty Friday in York County court to voluntary manslaughter in the death of Terrence Williams, said Willy Thompson, 16th Circuit Deputy Solicitor.
Williams, a member of the 2002 Rock Hill High School state champion football team, was gunned down in his apartment off Celanese Road in August 2018, officials said. The two men were acquaintances, Thompson said.
Baird was arrested in Charlotte and charged with murder days later, following a manhunt after the killing, prosecutors said.
The plea came 10 days before a murder trial was set to begin, according to court testimony.
Voluntary manslaughter carries two to 30 years for a conviction under South Carolina law.
Prosecutors offered the plea to voluntary manslaughter because the facts of the case likely would have led to an outcome of voluntary manslaughter if the case went to trial, Thompson said Friday after court.
The 15-year sentence was agreed upon between prosecutors and Baird, testimony showed.
Baird had been in jail since his arrest. He received prison credit for 480 days of jail time, court records show.
Lawyers for Baird could not be reached for comment.
Baird still faces pending charges in Connecticut, court testimony and records show. He was a fugitive from Connecticut where he was on probation after a felony drug conviction at the time Williams was killed, according to testimony and court records.
Baird will serve his 15-year sentence in a South Carolina prison before he faces pending Connecticut charges, prosecutors said.
