Cause of death revealed for retired Rock Hill Police Lt. Larry Vaughan

The cause of death in 2021 of retired Rock Hill Police Lt. Larry Vaughan was revealed on the third day of a trial in York County for the man accused in his death.

Vaughan died of blunt force trauma to the head and neck, and strangulation, testified Angelina Phillips, a forensic pathologist at the University of South Carolina Medical School who has conducted at least 1,000 autopsies.

Also on Thursday, the York County coroner who responded to Vaughan’s apartment the day he was found dead said she offered a pocket knife she found in Vaughan’s pocket to law enforcement instead of submitting it as evidence.

Sabrina Gast testified at the Moss Justice Center that she was called to Vaughan’s apartment to determine the cause and manner of his death four years ago.

Evan Hathorne, a former deputy sheriff in Chester County, is facing a murder charge in a trial by jury. The trial began Tuesday, and defense attorneys this week have questioned law enforcement officials about their processes for collecting evidence.

“I don’t recall what happened to the knife,” Gast said Thursday when she was questioned by Todd Rutherford, an attorney on Hawthorne’s defense team.

Hawthorne has pleaded not guilty to the murder charge.

Gast said she could remember asking if someone wanted the knife after reviewing body camera footage from the scene, but couldn’t recall who she asked. She guessed George Weeks, the county’s forensics director who testified Wednesday, but said she couldn’t be sure.

Gast said she determined, based on discoloration on Vaughan’s back, that he died while lying face up. She found a wallet, phone and pocket knife in Vaughan’s pockets.

She showed the jury Vaughan’s T-shirt he was wearing the night he died, which was brown. She said it was damp with blood when she collected it.

“So in a case where someone’s shirt looks like this, someone’s tip of their thumb is on the floor — in that case, you decided that the knife wasn’t important,” Rutherford said.

When she finds personal items, she said, she will either collect them or leave them at the scene for family to collect later. It is case dependent, she aid.

Rutherford questioned Gast about why she photographed and collected things like pill bottles on Vaughan’s kitchen counter, but not a knife, which could be considered a weapon.

Bryn Jones, a DNA analyst with the York County Sheriff’s Office, also testified Thursday, going over the items she tested for blood and for DNA of Vaughan and Hawthorne. As an expert witness, Jones explained to the jury how items are tested and what it could mean. She also went over her DNA analysis reports with prosecutors, explaining the results to the jury.

She said she tested several items from the crime scene, including Vaughan’s clothing, glasses found on the floor of his apartment, and blood spots. Some items tested positive for signs of blood, such as Vaughan’s T-shirt.

She also tested the tip of Vaughan’s thumb found in his apartment. The results said neither of them could be excluded as potential DNA matches, she said. She also tested both of their fingernails. Neither Hawthorne nor Vaughan could be excluded from DNA found in Hawthorne’s fingernail clippings, the results said.

The defense declined to question Jones.

Hawthorne, 31, is accused of killing Vaughan after they got drunk in the downtown Rock Hill bar Tattooed Brews and argued, and then Hawthorne walked to Vaughan’s nearby home. The York County Sheriff’s Office handled the investigation.

Tattooed Brews owner testifies in trial

12 jurors and three alternates also heard testimony from the owner of the bar Thursday, who was a close friend of Vaughan.

Bar owner Adam Perlowich explained his relationship with Vaughan, a regular at Tattoed Brews. He said they would sometimes go to sporting events together and he had been to his apartment. He had known Vaughan for about two years before his death on July 23, 2021.

Vaughan would sometimes help diffuse tense situations at the bar when Perlowich wasn’t there, he said.

He said he never saw Vaughan struggling to stand when he drank previously, said Vaughan never had altercations and had never needed to be escorted out before. The night Vaughan met Hawthorne was the first time he’d seen his friend like that, he said.

The night of Vaughan’s death, Perlowich said an employee told him about two people falling out of chairs. He found out one of them was Vaughan, he said.

After seeing Vaughan’s condition, and because it was almost closing time, he decided to help Vaughan home. He took him outside to make sure he was OK, Perlowich said.

Footage from inside the bar and just outside the bar’s entrance showed Hawthorne and Vaughan at the bar, talking to each other. Hawthorne was in a chair and Vaughan was standing.

Vaughan appeared to be leaning on Hawthorne’s chair when the pair fell over. People rushed over to help Vaughan up while Hawthorne stood up on his own. At another angle, it appeared people grabbed Hawthorne by the arm and chest as he moved toward someone behind a wall.

Perlowich said Hawthorne appeared to be “aggressive” and moving towards Vaughan.

Shortly after, the video out front showed Hawthorne stumbling out. He caught himself with a trash can on the street corner and then found an empty chair near other patrons. He appeared to put something in his mouth.

Then Perlowich walked out with Vaughan. Hawthorne walked over, and he and Vaughan put their arms around each other. They leaned into each other to speak. Perlowich said he couldn’t remember what they were discussing.

Vaughan at one point slipped out of a flip flop and fell into the chair and table where Hawthorne had previously sat. People rushed over to help him. After helping him back up, Perlowich began to take Vaughan to his nearby downtown apartment.

Hawthorne then followed behind and another man, “Ari,” followed behind him after noticing. Perlowich said he noticed them as they made their way to Vaughan’s apartment.

Perlowich testified that after opening the front door of the building for Vaughan, he tried to block Hawthorne, telling him he “didn’t need to come in.” But Hawthorne pushed past him and went in, Perlowich said.

“He was being aggressive,” Perlowich said. “The whole vibe felt off.”

Inside Vaughan’s apartment, Perlowich asked if Vaughan wanted Hawthorne there. Vaughan told Perlowich that Hawthorne was “cool” and Perlowich could leave them. Vaughan offered everyone a beer, but Perlowich said he needed to get back to work.

He and Ari left shortly after, he said. He said he regretted leaving Vaughan alone with Hawthorne.

Swerling asked why Perlowich would leave Vaughan alone if he was concerned for his safety. Especially since they were friends.

Perlowich said while he felt some concern about Hawthorne, he didn’t think it was something Vaughan couldn’t handle with his law enforcement background. Additionally, he said, he did try to address it with him. But Vaughan said he was fine.

He said it’s difficult to convince intoxicated people to act otherwise, and he doesn’t try to control his friends.

Swerling also questioned how he knew Hawthorne was being aggressive. He pointed to the video of them with their arms around each other outside of the bar. And Perlowich said Vaughan and Hawthorne were having a friendly conversation outside as well.

But Perlowich said they didn’t seem like two people who became friends, but rather two drunk guys having a drunk conversation.

Just before breaking for lunch Thursday, Swerling asked Perlowich about his own criminal history. He pointed out that Perlowich pleaded guilty to drug and weapons charges in June 2023.

This is a developing story. Return to The Herald for further coverage.

This story was originally published August 28, 2025 at 2:21 PM.