Rock Hill man sentenced to 17 years after guilty plea in gas station shooting
A Rock Hill man has been sentenced to 17 years in a South Carolina prison after pleading guilty to a 2022 shooting that happened near one of York County’s busiest intersections, records show.
Keon Arquis Davis, 28, pleaded guilty to attempted murder under an Alford plea Friday in York County criminal court, according to online court records and 16th Circuit Senior Assistant Solicitor Matthew Hogge.
The victim who was shot three times survived, Hogge said.
The incident happened May 7, 2022, in the middle of the day outside a gas station at the intersection of Cherry Road, Riverview Road, and Celanese Road, near Interstate 77 Exit 82. The Riverwalk neighborhood and business area is near the shooting scene, which is close to the Catawba River. Commercial businesses and restaurants are across the street and adjacent to the incident site.
Rock Hill Police Department officers arrested Davis a few days after the shooting and he has been in custody pending court ever since, York County Sheriff’s Office jail records show.
Davis pleaded guilty under what is called an Alford plea, court records show. In an Alford plea, a defendant does not have to admit guilt, but accepts that if the case went to trial he would likely be found guilty, according to prosecutors. For sentencing, an Alford plea is treated the same as a guilty plea, South Carolina law shows.
Davis pleaded guilty under a negotiated agreement for the 17-year sentence, said Hogge the prosecutor. York County Circuit Court Judge Dan Hall accepted the agreement and sentence.
Davis is not eligible for parole under state law and must serve 85 percent of the sentence. Davis received credit for the 334 days he already has been in jail, court records show.
