‘The wrong car’: Court details show case of mistaken identity in killing of Bluffton teen
A Bluffton High School football player was killed March 5 in a drive-by shooting because two 18-year-olds directed shooters at the wrong car, a prosecutor said Monday.
At a hearing for two siblings charged in the murder, Assistant Solicitor Mary Jones said Jayden and Shayniah Void are a danger to the community because they were willing to “point out a target in the wrong car.”
DJ “Dwon” Fields was killed in the shooting near Bluffton and Hampton parkways. Classmates, coaches and the Bluffton community were horrified by the death of the 18-year-old, called a “gentle giant.”
Bluffton police have charged four people since Fields’ death, including the Voids. The hearing on Monday was to reconsider the bond of the two former May River High School students. It was initially set at $1 million.
On March 9, Tyleic Channeyfield, 18, of Ridgeland and Jimmie Green, 19, of Hardeeville were charged with murder, attempted murder, and possession of a weapon in commission of a violent crime.
Surveillance footage from businesses showed Shayniah Void’s car nearby Fields, who was driving two passengers, the prosecutor said. Arrest warrants stated the Voids saw Fields’ car exiting the Wendy’s parking lot near Publix on S.C. 170.
Jones alluded to a “dispute” between Green and an unnamed Bluffton High School student. She said the Voids “took it upon themselves” to point out Fields’ car to Green, in relation to that dispute.
But “that person was not in the car,” she said.
William Runyon, a Charleston-based defense attorney representing the Voids, argued that “no parent should have to bury their children,” but that he wanted the court to set a reasonable bond for his clients.
“A million-dollar bond is tantamount to no bond at all,” Runyon said.
Bond is to ensure a person charged with a crime returns to court. But in deciding whether and how much bond is required, judges must consider whether a person is a danger to the community or a flight risk.
Kema Bryant, DJ Fields’ mother, told the court that March 5 “was the worst day of our lives.” Fields’ father, Dwon Fields Sr., sat next to her, crying, as Bryant continued. “Our worlds were destroyed.”
14th Circuit Judge Carmen Mullen decided not to change the Voids’ million-dollar bond.
“I think they’re a danger to the community,” she said.
This story was originally published March 29, 2021 at 4:22 PM.
