A work argument, self-defense killing. Rock Hill woman pleads guilty to her role
A South Carolina woman who brought her girlfriend a gun to confront a co-worker before the co-worker killed the girlfriend in a self-defense shooting faces up to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to assault and battery.
Brittney Nicole Reed, 34, was charged by Rock Hill police with murder, conspiracy, and weapons charges after the summer 2024 shooting on Celriver Road near Riverwalk Parkway in the middle of the afternoon.
Circuit Judge Bill McKinnon accepted the plea Thursday in York County criminal court, with sentencing deferred to November.
Sabreena Barboza, Reed’s lawyer, told McKinnon she agreed with the plea deal.
Reed did not say anything about the incident in court other than to agree to prosecutors’ version of the facts and to plead guilty.
A gun, confrontation, and shots fired
Here’s how prosecutor Leslie Robinson explained to the judge what happened on June 19 of last year that left one person dead:
Reed brought her girlfriend, Samarian Lindsay, a gun after Lindsay had argued with a male co-worker at DHL in Rock Hill.
Lindsay and Reed exchanged text messages and calls, and Lindsay asked Reed to bring a “tool.”
Lindsay sent Reed a picture of the co-worker’s vehicle, Robinson said. Lindsay also texted another person to say “she might go to jail for shooting someone.”
Reed then came to pick up Lindsay after work around 3 p.m.
Reed drove Lindsay to follow the co-worker and cut him off in traffic at a nearby stoplight, Robinson said. Lindsay then got out of the passenger seat and approached the co-worker’s vehicle with a gun held in front of her with a bag over it to cover it, Robinson said.
The co-worker then retrieved a gun from his vehicle and shot Lindsay in self-defense, Robinson said in court. He has not been charged.
Rock Hill police arrested Reed under what is called the felony murder rule — where she allegedly participated in a criminal act that could have ended in someone’s death, Robinson said.
There is no precedent in South Carolina for a homicide case with similar facts so discussion with Reed’s lawyers led to the plea agreement where Reed admitted knowing there was an intention to confront the co-worker, Robinson said.
What happens now?
Reed had been released on bail in August 2024 and does not have to report back to court until the November sentencing.
The conviction carries anywhere from probation to 10 years prison, according to court statements from Judge McKinnon and lawyers in the case on Thursday.
In that November hearing, both Reed’s lawyers and prosecutors can make their case about sentencing.
Only after sentencing will prosecutors drop the murder and other charges, according to the judge and lawyers in the case.
