Ridgeland man convicted of murder for shooting sleeping 2-year-old in mobile home
A jury convicted a Ridgeland man of murder in the 2018 death of a 2-year-old who was shot in the head through the wall of a mobile home while he was asleep.
Dionte D’Chon Habersham, 21, was convicted on Thursday of one count of murder, one count of firing into a dwelling, and one count of possession of a weapon in commission of a violent crime, according to a news release from the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office.
Circuit Judge Bentley Price sentenced Habersham to 33 years in prison for killing little Moises Montano.
Habersham has been held in the Jasper County Detention Center awaiting trial for nearly three years. That time will be subtracted from his sentence as time served.
Deputy Solicitor Sean Thornton prosecuted the case. The agency’s news release said the shooting was motivated by a property dispute between the 2-year-old’s family and their neighbors, who are related to Habersham.
On Aug. 16, 2018, deputies with the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office arrived at the Montano residence on Fordville Road in Jasper County just before 10 p.m. Habersham fired several rounds into the exterior walls of the mobile home, the release said.
Moises was hit in the head while sleeping and was killed.
Investigators with the Sheriff’s Office and S.C. Law Enforcement Division found eight spent 9mm shell casings about 100 feet behind the home.
Moises Montano’s father, Nelson, testified that he placed rows of logs on their property line to keep his neighbors from driving over his home’s septic system.
Habersham, the neighbors’ relative, lived a short distance away.
The news release said Habersham originally had an alibi, but that a gunshot-residue test came back positive on his hands and clothes. The agency said footprints at the scene matched Habersham’s shoes.
A reporter left a message for Arie Bax, Habersham’s defense attorney, around noon on Friday.
