St. Helena man sentenced to life for 2015 murder and kidnapping

Tyrone Anthony Wallace Jr., of St. Helena, was sentenced Friday to life in prison for the killing of Vernon Steve and 25-years in prison for the kidnapping of Steve's friend.

Steve's burned remains were found on the shoulder of Pea Patch Road on St. Helena about three weeks after he was reported missing by family, according to a news release by the Fourteenth Circuit Solicitor's Office. An autopsy showed he was shot in the back multiple times.

Wallace made statements in police interviews that he heard someone enter his home and "just started shooting."

"He was discarded like a piece of garbage," said Prosecutor Mary Jones, of the solicitor's office.

On the same day Steve went missing, Wallace and Varsheen "Twiz" Smith held a friend of Steve's at gunpoint, the release states. They bound and gagged the man with a chemical-soaked rag. They demanded to know Steve's whereabouts.

The release states they let the man go when a Beaufort Police Department vehicle drove past the house as it was responding to another call.

Smith was convicted of kidnapping in February and received a 25-year sentence. He still faces pending charges of accessory after the fact to the murder of Steve.

"Choices," Jones said during Wallace's trial, according to the release. "We make thousands of choices every day. Choices that map out our lives. At the end of the day the only reason the defendant is here is because of the choices he made on Oct. 25, 2015."

This story was originally published June 23, 2018 at 4:41 PM with the headline "St. Helena man sentenced to life for 2015 murder and kidnapping."