30 years after York SC deputy McCants was killed, one of the convicts seeks parole
One of two men convicted of fatally shooting a York County, S.C., deputy in 1992 has been denied parole.
Dwayne Eric Forney, now 55, was kept in prison Wednesday by the S.C. Parole Board. The ruling comes just weeks before the 30th anniversary of the death of York County Sheriff’s Deputy Brent McCants.
The parole board unanimously denied parole in a 5-0 vote.
McCants, from Lancaster, was a Rock Hill Police Department officer before becoming a sheriff’s deputy. A section of Dave Lyle Boulevard near Interstate 77 is named to honor the memory of McCants.
The crime and convictions
McCants, 23, was shot to death during a traffic stop on Dave Lyle Boulevard in Rock Hill in September 1992.
Forney and Mar-Reece Hughes, now 56, were both caught hours after the shooting. Each of the suspects blamed the other for the shooting after a night of other crimes, which included an armed robbery in Charlotte. Forney had the murder weapon in his possession when caught, court testimony showed.
Forney was sentenced to life in prison after a trial in 1994.
Although Forney received a life sentence, the law in South Carolina in 1992 was that a person who received life would be eligible for parole. That law was changed in 1996 and persons now sentenced to life are not eligible for parole.
Hughes was sentenced to the death penalty after a 1995 trial and remains on the South Carolina Department of Corrections death row. Hughes is not eligible for parole.
Forney asks for release
Forney told the parole board Wednesday via teleconference from prison that he wished he had never committed the crime.
“I wish it never happened,” Forney said. “If I could take it back, I would.”
Forney told the board he would live in Charlotte with family and work in landscaping if paroled.
Forney admitted after being questioned by the parole board that drug use was involved in the 1992 crime. He also admitted he had disciplinary problems in prison as recently as 2021.
No one spoke on behalf of Forney being released.
“Son shot like a dog”: McCants’ mother urges no parole
Several people spoke against the parole via teleconfonference and telephone.
McCants’ mother, Myra McCants, emotionally urged the parole board to deny parole.
“My son was shot like a dog,” Myra McCants said. “My son had his whole life ahead of him. He was so proud to be a cop...Do not let him out.”
York County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Kelly Lovelace was on shift with Brent McCants in 1992 and was a friend of the deputy. Lovelace said the York County citizenry deserves justice that keeps Forney in prison.
Current 16th Circuit Solicitor Kevin Brackett and S.C. Rep. Tommy Pope, the former solicitor, both prosecuted Forney in York County court in 1994.
Brackett and Pope each said Wednesday that Forney had been on parole and out of a North Carolina prison only a month when Forney and Hughes attacked McCants. Forney and Hughes had carjacked a couple in Charlotte just minutes before the McCants killing and were in the stolen car when McCants pulled them over, Brackett said.
“Killing a police officer is an offense against society,” Brackett told the parole board.
Brackett and Pope urged the parole board to keep Forney in prison for life. Former York County Sheriff Bruce Bryant, now a South Carolina legislator, sent a letter to the parole board asking that parole be denied. Bryant was the lead investigator in the murder while a State Law Enforcement Division agent in 1992.
What happens now?
Wednesday was Forney’s first parole hearing since his conviction. He is now eligible for a parole hearing every two years.
This story was originally published August 31, 2022 at 11:21 AM.
