SC judge must decide outcome for mentally ill man who killed 2 in Rock Hill
A South Carolina judge will have to decide whether a Rock Hill man who killed two people in 2019 but was found not guilty by reason of insanity will be released back into the public.
The case involving Jimar Neely is a legal dilemma because lawyers for Neely and the state’s mental health department say Neely has the legal right to be released from a mental hospital where he’s been for three years. But prosecutors say Neely could pose a danger to the community if released because he didn’t comply with court-ordered medication rules for schizophrenia before the 2019 killings.
York County’s top prosecutor, Kevin Brackett, said in York County court Friday that Neely killed two innocent people in 2019 in a shooting outside Rock Hill, where he later shot at police and into a relative’s home.
Lawyers for Neely and the state’s mental health system said in court that under state law, his treatment has reached the point where Neely should be released to a community care facility. In that group home, Neely, now 34, would have the freedom to leave at times.
Tim Barber and his brother-in-law, Robbin Thompson, were attacked and shot to death as they sat in a truck awaiting cabinets to be delivered. Neely then shot at deputies who went to the scene to apprehend him. He heard voices and claimed there were “invisible people” trying to get him, testimony showed.
In 2022, a York County judge found Neely not guilty by reason of insanity. Testimony showed he had schizophrenia at the time of the killings and did not know the legal and moral difference between right and wrong.
After the 2022 ruling he was sent to a S.C. Department of Mental Health hospital for treatment. That treatment included what a state psychiatrist said Friday includes anti-psychotic medication for schizophrenia.
Only a judge can order Neely’s release under state law. Visiting Judge Keith Kelly did not rule Friday, but said he would decide soon.
Lawyers and psychiatrist: Neely legally ready for release
Lawyer Logan Royals of the state mental health department said state law for someone found not guilty by reason of insanity must allow for release after the person has maximized their state hospital treatment.
York County Public Defender B.J. Barrowclough, who was Neely’s lawyer for the 2022 ruling, acknowledged what happened in 2019 were “horrible crimes.” But he said Neely’s illness caused it.
Psychiatrist Dr. Benjamin Potter, who has treated Neely for about a year, testified that Neely would be sent to a community release center near Spartanburg. Neely is on anti-psychotic medication and would be required to continue medication upon release, Potter said.
Prosecutor: “Consequences could be deadly”
Brackett said releasing Neely is not safe for the public. Before the shooting spree, Neely refused to comply with a 2018 order from a civil judge to take medication for his illness and abstain from other drug use.
“The consequences could be deadly,” Brackett argued. “The risk is too great.”
He said the public would be placing its faith back into the same system that failed the victims and their families in 2019 when Neely did not follow court-ordered medication, and killed two people.
Additionally, even though Neely was in custody in a state hospital in 2024, Neely tested positive for the chemical found in marijuana, Brackett said.
“If anyone should stay in a hospital for balance of their life to follow the rules, it is Jimar Neely,” Brackett said.
Victims oppose release
Renea Barber, Tim Barber’s wife and Robbin Thompson’s sister, spoke on behalf of the large family who were in court Friday. She said Neely’s refusal to comply with court-ordered medication left her family without the two loved ones.
“Two innocent lives were lost, two families still struggle with how the mental health system failed,” Barber told Judge Kelly.
Barber said no other family should have to take the risk that violence could happen again.
“We don’t want anyone else to go through what we did,” Barber said.
The families of the victims then silently left court.
