Man, woman get 15 years from York County death where a body was found in freight trailer
Two people from York County received 15-year prison sentences for their roles in a deadly armed robbery in 2021 where deputies found a person shot to death inside a freight trailer.
Derek Jason Brown, 33, and Yevonne Nicole Price, 41, pleaded guilty Tuesday to accessory after the fact and armed robbery in York County criminal court at the Moss Justice Center. The 15-year sentences were a negotiated plea deal. Both Brown and Price originally were charged with murder.
Their charges are connected to the death of Steven Kyle Faris, 35, whose body was found wrapped in a blanket on Twin Streams Lane in early July 2021. The area is west of Lake Wylie.
Faris died from shotgun blasts days earlier, 16th Circuit Deputy Solicitor John Anthony said in court.
A third defendant, Michael Eugene Davis, 50, already is in prison serving a 21-year sentence after pleading guilty last year to voluntary manslaughter and armed robbery.
Deputies arrested Brown, Price and Davis days after Brown was seen riding around in Faris’ car. Deputies found DNA from both Brown and Price that connected them to Faris’ death, Anthony said.
“Our belief is Mr. Davis is the one who fired the shots that killed Mr. Faris,” Anthony told Judge Dan Hall. “However, both are very culpable in this robbery and killing.”
Both Brown and Price expressed remorse for Faris’s death in court, and blamed their involvement with drugs. Price said Faris, the victim, was her friend before the robbery.
“Drugs and bad decisions are a terrible combination,” Brown told Judge Hall.
Both Price and Brown had been in jail without bail since they were arrested over three years ago.
