Rock Hill man who survived being shot 8 times by York County deputies pleads guilty
A South Carolina man who survived being shot eight times by deputies in 2021 when he was suicidal has admitted he had a gun at the time — but will not serve any prison time.
Trevor Blaine Mullinax, 32, pleaded guilty Monday in York County criminal court to breach of peace of a high and aggravated nature where he had a gun in his truck when four York County Sheriff’s Office patrol deputies arrived at a property off S.C. 324 near Rock Hill.
The deputies fired 47 shots at Mullinax after the officers and prosecutors — and now Mullinax in court — say he had a gun in the truck in May 2021 when officers responded to a 911 call for a well-being check
York County Judge Bill McKinnon sentenced Mullinax to three years probation after prosecutors and Mullinax’s lawyer negotiated a deal that ends the criminal case. Mullinax also pleaded guilty to malicious damage to property from an unrelated 2023 incident and received a one-day time served sentence for that.
The guilty pleas and Mullinax admitting he had a gun at the time he was shot by deputies ends five years of legal wrangling in both criminal and civil court, according to court statements Monday. Mullinax and his mother, who was near his truck at the time, filed state and federal lawsuits against the sheriff’s office, said Taylor Bell, Mullinax’s lawyer. The filing of those suits brought regional and national news coverage to the case.
The lawsuits have already been settled, Bell told Judge McKinnon.
Prosecutors: Police investigation showed, and Mullinax admitted he had a gun
The four deputies who responded to the rural property in 2021 were identified in court Monday by prosecutor Daniel Porter as Daniel Taggart, Michael Griffin, Gary Pence and Brian Whitesides.
Porter told the judge that at the time in 2021, Mullinax was wanted on arrest warrants from another agency. Those warrants were later withdrawn, he said. But the four officers who responded to the well-being check knew about those warrants and had only a short time to devise a plan to get Mullinax into custody and also perform the well-being check, according to Porter.
All four deputies told a State Law Enforcement Division agent who did an outside investigation of the shooting that after just a couple of seconds on scene they saw Mullinax with a gun in the truck, Porter said.
“After commands to put his hands up, all four deputies say that they observed a firearm being raised up inside the vehicle at which point they discharged their weapons,” Porter said.
Mullinax’s mother was near the truck but was not hit by the police gunfire, court statements showed.
The SLED probe showed that Mullinax and his mother both told state police agents during the investigation “that he had picked the firearm up, which was consistent with what the deputies said,” Porter said.
Mullinax was going through a “mental health crisis” at the time but also was wanted by another agency, Porter said.
Of the deputies who fired, Porter said: “They did the best they could with the information they had.”
16th Circuit Solicitor Kevin Brackett, York County’s top prosecutor, later cleared all four officers of any criminal wrongdoing.
Sheriff’s Office: Deputies “justified and correct”
Three of the four deputies still work at the sheriff’s office and were at the hearing Monday but did not speak. Several other sheriff’s office members were there, including Sheriff Tony Breeden.
Capt. Nick Schifferle, who is in charge of the patrol division, spoke on behalf of the sheriff’s office. He said the deputies were “victims” who had endured five years of “disrespect” online since the incident. He described the officers involved as “good deputies” who were “put in a very bad situation.”
He also acknowledged that while the sheriff’s office recognizes that mental health plays a concern in the incident, he wanted the judge to know the sheriff’s office has a concern for the well-being of the deputies.
Schifferle asked for the maximum of five years probation allowed under the plea deal. He said the deputies went through a lengthy investigation by SLED that found their actions to be “justified and correct.”
“For several years the deputies have been waiting for justice in this case,” Schifferle said.
He added that Mullinax “did possess a firearm” and the case shows “another reason it is so dangerous to be a police officer.”
Defense: Last chapter in the five-year saga
Mullinax said in court he has been diagnosed with depression since the incident. He told Judge McKinnon he was guilty and that he agreed with prosecutors’ version of the facts from five years ago.
Bell, his lawyer, told the judge Mullinax did not have any intent to harm the officers and was suicidal at the time.
He said the 2021 incident was for Mullinax, “a dark time in his life; he was there to take his life that day.”
“Nobody wanted that situation that happened that day,” Bell said.
But with the guilty pleas, Mullinax can move on, Bell said.
“He’s ready to close this chapter of his life,” Bell said of the incident.
Bell said Mullinax has also been “scrutinized online” in the five years since the shooting.
Bell confirmed to Judge McKinnon there was a “financial settlement” in the lawsuits but he did not say how much. Online state and federal court records show both cases settled but do not show a settlement amount.
“That is done and over with,” Bell said in court of the civil lawsuits.
