Ridgeland man sentenced to 40 years in prison for 2013 murder
A Ridgeland man was convicted and sentenced to 40 years in prison Thursday for a 2013 murder in Jasper County involving pot and a video game system, according to a news release from the 14th Circuit Solicitor's Office.
Billy Phillips, 42, was convicted of murder in the shooting death of Darius Woods on May 18, 2013 at Woods' home on East Adams Street in Ridgeland after a three-day trial this week, the release said.
Phillips killed the 24-year-old Woods over a few hundred dollars, marijuana, and a PlayStation console, assistant solicitor Mary Jones said in the release. A convicted felon on probation at the time of the murder, Phillips fled Jasper County and was later captured by U.S. Marshals in California.
Phillips was on federal probation for a weapons conviction at the time of the murder. His criminal history included convictions in Massachusetts and Tennessee dating back to 1992, on charges such as armed assault with intent to murder and possession of a firearm by a felon, the release said.
"He is a violent career criminal who brought his violence into Jasper County," Jones said in the release.
In the months after Woods's death, his mother Tearwonia Woods held rallies to end violence and hoped her son's killer would be brought to justice. She died on Jan. 31, 2014, before an arrest was made.
Murder charges in the case weren't announced in the case until almost a full year after Woods's death. The S.C. Law Enforcement Division charged Phillips on May 12, 2014 and brought him to Jasper County from the Federal Correctional Institute in Estill for the probation violation.
Circuit Court Judge Michael Nettles handed down the 40-year sentence.
Follow reporter Matt McNab on Twitter at twitter.com/IPBG_Matt.
Related content:
- Ridgeland man arrested, charged with murder, May 12, 2014
This story was originally published January 15, 2016 at 12:46 PM with the headline "Ridgeland man sentenced to 40 years in prison for 2013 murder."