Killing caught on video: Rock Hill man gets 22 years for Instagram drug deal shooting
A South Carolina man caught on video shooting another man to death during a drug deal in Rock Hill received a 22-year prison sentence on Monday for manslaughter.
Jaelon Devon Kelly, 24, of Rock Hill initially was charged with murder in the Jan. 23, 2022, death of Deshawn Barnes, 27, outside a an apartment complex off Celanese Road west of Interstate 77.
Kelly pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, possession of a weapon during a violent crime, and attempting to purchase marijuana.
Surveillance video showed Kelly shoot Barnes after hiding behind a garbage bin, prosecutor Marina Hamilton said in York County criminal court at the Moss Justice Center.
The deal where Barnes was going to sell the drugs had been set up on the Instagram social media app, Hamilton said. Kelly bought the gun weeks earlier at a sporting goods store, Hamilton said.
Judge Dan Hall accepted a negotiated deal for 22 years in prison between prosecutors and Kelly’s lawyer, Phil Smith of the York County Public Defender’s office.
Kelly had no previous criminal record, Smith said. Smith said in court the case shows a “cautionary tale” where drugs, guns, social media and young people are involved.
Charges remain pending against several other people charged in the case, officials said.
