Jury finds Hilton Head man guilty of murder in 2018 Sea Pines Circle gas station shooting
A Hilton Head Island man was found guilty of murder Thursday after a three-day trial related to a 2018 fatal shooting at a gas station near Sea Pines Circle.
After the jury read its guilty verdict, a few tears rolled down the face of the brother of Christopher Shaun Fells, who died more than 5 months after being shot on Aug. 4, 2018.
Family members who came in support of Joseph “JoJo” Burton hung their heads after he was found guilty of murder and possession of a weapon in commission of a violent crime.
“I’ve never seen such a senseless act of violence,” 14th Circuit Assistant Solicitor Mary Jones said. “[Fells] was minding his own business when he was gunned down.”
The jury deliberated about an hour.
Following the verdict, 14th Circuit Judge Robert Bonds sentenced Burton to 40 years in prison for murder. He also received 2 years for possession of a weapon, and that sentence will run concurrently.
Because he has been in the Beaufort County Detention Center since 2018, Burton will serve 37 years in prison.
‘I was scared’
On Thursday, Burton’s attorney, Scott Lee, and Jones made closing arguments to the jury.
Jones, with the Solicitor’s Office, pointed jurors to a large TV mounted in the right corner of the courtroom. It displayed extensive surveillance video evidence at the Kangaroo Express gas station on Palmetto Bay Road where Fells was shot.
On the night of Aug. 4, 2018, Burton was out celebrating with friends on Hilton Head’s south end in the area known as the “Barmuda Triangle” after Burton won an amateur boxing match.
The group eventually left and drove to the Kangaroo Express to stop for food and to use the restroom shortly after 2 a.m.
Fells also came into the gas station after 2 a.m. with friends and bought a case of beer.
Things took a turn, however, after Burton’s wife told her husband that one of Fells’ friends stood too close to her.
Burton’s friends jumped into action. One of Fells’ friends and one of Burton’s friends began to fight. After the fight broke up, everyone streamed outside, the footage showed.
Fells put the case of beer into his friend’s truck. At the same time, Burton retrieved a gun from his car and began firing.
Burton testified on Thursday.
“I was scared,” he said from the witness stand, “scared for my safety and the safety of others with me.”
Burton and his attorney, Lee, argued that Burton did not have his glasses on and mistook Fells for another person in the chaos after the fight.
In his closing argument, Lee said that other person seemed to have been armed in the gas station and was who Burton was aiming for. Also, Lee accused the Solicitor’s Office of not providing enough evidence to rule that out.
Jones disagreed.
Fells was hit five times, she said, which is hard to do with bad vision.
“No one is that lucky,” Jones said.
Burton shot Fells with a “reckless disregard for human life,” she said.
‘Prepared to take his medicine’
Burton’s sister and mother pleaded with the judge to consider a lower sentence.
“I’m sorry for everything that happened. He’s my only son,” his mother, Wanda Sanders, said. “Since I lost my husband, we wanted to get our family back together. He’s my rock.”
Burton himself asked the Fells family to forgive him.
Bonds didn’t have much leeway to give. In South Carolina, a murder conviction means a minimum of 30 years to life. There’s no parole and no good behavior reductions.
“He’s prepared to take his medicine,” Lee said, but also argued that more time spent in the S.C. Department of Corrections reduces a person’s life expectancy. A 40-year sentence could mean a life sentence, he said.
Both Lee and Jones described the shooting as a tragedy.
“Wrong place, wrong time has never rung more true than for [Fells],” Jones said. “He never stood a chance that night.”
This story was originally published June 3, 2021 at 5:18 PM.
