Beaufort man accused of 2016 murder goes free after the third attempt at a conviction
After four years, a dismissed jury and a mistrial, a third jury has declared Ishmael Rivers not guilty of all charges in a 2016 Burton murder case.
On April 22, Ishmael Rivers, 22, of Burton, went to court for the third time to face charges in the case. Rivers, who was 18 at the time, was charged with killing Benjamin Campbell, 61, as well as possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime.
Campbell’s body was discovered on Sept. 27 on Stanley Farm Road in Burton with multiple gunshot wounds around 9 a.m. According to previous reporting by The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette, the victim lived close by, on Roseida Road.
An affidavit signed around the time of Rivers’ arrest in December 2016 indicates there was an altercation between the two before the shooting. It alleges that Rivers moved the body to dispose of it, and that witnesses and forensic evidence supported those claims. A murder weapon was never found.
Assistant Solicitor Mary Jones, who prosecuted the case in the third trial, said an eyewitness claimed that the relationship between Campbell and Rivers was drug-related.
Rivers’ brother, William Heyward, was also charged, and later cleared, in the crime. He was eventually charged in December 2016 with accessory to murder after the fact after being arrested for failing to stop for police.
Rivers’ defense attorney, Carl B. Grant, said that the first trial was thwarted because there weren’t enough minorities in the jury pool. He moved to dismiss them, and his motion was granted by the judge.
Second trial
The second trial, Grant said, resulted in a hung jury, and the judge declared a mistrial.
Jeff Kidd, a spokesperson for the Solicitor’s Office, said mistrials are not uncommon. He estimates that there have been four to five mistrials in his four years with the Solicitor’s Office.
One of the witnesses called to testify said she saw the murder happen, Jones, the prosecutor, said.
But Grant pointed out that “in this case, the prosecution did not have a murder weapon to present to the jury.” When “you look at all the issues when it came to the testimony from the witnesses they called,” he said, “that right there was enough to create a reasonable doubt.”
For Rivers, who was facing life in prison without the possibility of parole, the outcome is a relief.
“He is obviously very happy that he was found not guilty of the charges,” Grant said. “We’re just glad that the presumption of innocence is still alive and well in Beaufort County.”
