Man gets 22 years in prison after pleading guilty in Lancaster shooting death
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A Lancaster man has been sentenced to 22 years in prison for the 2019 shooting death of another man after a stand your ground claim failed, according to prosecutors and court records.
Raykeivis Demont Nesbit, 33, pleaded guilty Tuesday in Lancaster County court to voluntary manslaughter, possession of a weapon during a violent crime, and assault and battery, said Robert Kittle, spokesman for the S.C. Attorney General’s Office.
Nesbit was convicted in the shooting death of Domingo Dijon Champion, 33, in October 2019, records show.
Nesbit pleaded guilty under a North Carolina Alford plea, Nesbit’s lawyer, Twana Burris-Alcide, said.
In an Alford plea, a defendant accepts the consequences of a guilty plea without admitting guilt because of the likelihood of being found guilty at trial, Burris-Alcide said.
Visiting South Carolina Circuit Court Judge Steven John sentenced Nesbit to 22 years in the S.C. Department of Corrections, according to lawyers in the case and Lancaster County court documents.
Judge rules against Stand Your Ground claim
Nesbit was originally charged with murder in Champion’s death, police and prosecutors said.
Nesbit had filed a motion for immunity from prosecution under the Protection of Persons and Property Act — South Carolina’s version of Stand Your Ground — but the judge in a pretrial hearing ruled against Nesbit, Kittle said in a statement.
A trial on the murder charge started Tuesday with opening statements where Nesbit was claiming self-defense in the shooting, Burris-Alicide said.
Nesbit agreed to plead guilty after opening statements in the trial, after prosecutors offered a reduced plea from murder to voluntary manslaughter, Burris-Alcide said. Nesbit could have faced up to life in prison if convicted of murder, Burris-Alcide said.
The plea agreement also included prosecutors dropping other charges of voluntary manslaughter, kidnapping, indecent exposure, and drug charges against Nesbit in unrelated cases, Burris-Alcide said.
Nesbit gets credit for 754 days in jail and has to serve 85% of the 22-year sentence, records show.
