SC man pleads guilty to role in 2021 murder-for-hire attack on woman, baby in Fort Mill
A South Carolina man has been sentenced to 32 years in prison after admitting he committed rape and other crimes during a murder for hire plot against a Fort Mill woman and her baby, according to prosecutors and court records.
Jerry J.C. Kinard, 36, of Orangeburg, pleaded guilty late Tuesday in York County criminal court for his role in crimes against a woman and her infant child at an apartment complex in January 2021.
Kinard admitted in court he was hired to kill the victim and her baby, said prosecutor Jessica Russo, 16th Circuit assistant solicitor.
The woman and child were not killed.
Kinard forced his way into the apartment while armed with a knife and sexually assaulted the woman, Russo said.
Kinard pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted murder, two counts of kidnapping, first-degree criminal sexual conduct, burglary, conspiracy, and possession of a weapon during a violent crime, court records show.
Kinard will not be eligible for parole.
Judge Eugene Griffith accepted the negotiated sentence of 32 years for the guilty pleas, according to Russo and Kinard’s lawyer, York County Assistant Public Defender Tyler Bratton.
Bratton confirmed that Kinard pleaded guilty but declined further comment.
Attack prompted police public safety advisory
The victim survived the attack in January 2021 and reported it to police. The case went unsolved for months and led the Fort Mill Police Department to issue public safety warnings on social media in the town of about 20,000 people between Charlotte and Rock Hill.
In May 2021, three months after the attack, Kinard and a female co-defendant were arrested for alleged roles in the plot. Police said at the time the female from Rock Hill who was charged in the case had a previous adversarial relationship with the victim.
That woman alleged to have hired Kinard remains in custody pending trial, according to court records and lawyers in Kinard’s case.
Two others were later charged in the case, records show.
Charges against the three remaining defendants remain pending, according to prosecutors and York County court records.
