Prosecutor: Suspects in Indian Land slaying planned to rob victim of drugs

The accused triggerman in the shooting death of a 20-year-old Fort Mill man found in a wooded area of Indian Land last month had made known his intentions before the shooting in text messages and statements to others, prosecutors said during a bond hearing Monday.

David Antonio Kucinski, 21, is one of four people charged with murder and armed robbery in the death of Randy Tran, who was found shot to death in a wooded area off Little River Trail in Indian Land on April 5.

Prosecutors said Monday that witnesses called police after seeing a man identified as Kucinski placing a body into a car. The car was gone by the time officers arrived; however, blood was found at the scene, and a trail of blood led officers to an area in the woods where Tran’s body was partially covered with debris.

Tran’s orange car was later found abandoned in a Charlotte subdivision, and Deputy Sixth Circuit Solicitor Lisa Collins said investigators found blood on the gas pedal and driver’s side of the interior and a significant amount of blood in the trunk.

The new information came during back-to-back bond hearings for Kucinski and Chris Glass. All four defendants had filed motions for bond hearings; however, Nachon Hayden and Tony Maynard withdrew their motions Monday.

“The evidence leading to Mr. Kucinski indicated that, while he had previously been homeless, destitute and penniless,” Collins said, “he had indicated to people in the coming days he was going to get a new car.”

Police found text messages exchanged between Kucinski and Nachon Hayden, which Collins said showed the defendants had planned to rob and shoot Tran.

“They were planning what is known as a ‘lick,’ or a robbery,” Collins said of the text messages. “And Mr. Kucinski says, ‘You know we’ll have to kill him.’”

Hayden didn’t respond to the text, Collins said, but he did show up to what started out as a purchase of six pounds of marijuana from Tran.

Witnesses later described seeing Kucinski driving Tran’s orange car and in possession of several pounds of marijuana and a handgun, Collins said.

Evidence suggests Kucinski shot Tran; however, Kucinski has said his co-defendant Chris Glass is the shooter, Collins said. The co-defendants have given conflicting statements.

Kucinski’s lawyer, Mark Grier of the Sixth Circuit Public Defender’s Office, noted that his client had known Tran since the two were in seventh grade, and that Kucinski has no prior criminal record.

“They held a gun at him and held him at gunpoint and told him to put the body in the trunk of Mr. Tran’s car and to dispose of it,” Grier said, adding that Kucinski couldn’t get the body into the car and instead dragged it into the woods.

Grier said there was nothing in police evidence about the texts allegedly exchanged between Kucinski and Hayden, and that Kucinski has been threatened in jail for cooperating with police.

“He was being threatened at the time and left the area because of his fear,” Grier said of Kucinski’s fleeing to Charlotte.

Circuit Court Judge Brian Gibbons denied bond for Kucinski and Glass.

Nearly half of the courtroom on Monday was filled with friends and family members of Tran. His uncle, Tom Nguyen, spoke on behalf of the family.

“Even animals don’t treat animals like that,” he said of how his nephew was shot in the back of the head and left to die. “It’s just unfair to us that we won’t have the opportunity to see him again, compared to the four young men’s families. At least they have the chance to see them and visit them.”

Nguyen noted that his father – Tran’s grandfather – is a military veteran.

“He’s fought in the Vietnam war, seen many of his friends die,” Nguyen said. “I’ve never seen him cry in 30 years until my nephew’s funeral.”

This story was originally published May 9, 2016 at 3:42 PM with the headline "Prosecutor: Suspects in Indian Land slaying planned to rob victim of drugs."