Prosecutors want to revoke St. Helena man’s bond in 2020 shooting that killed 26-year-old
Prosecutors tried Thursday to revoke the bond of a St. Helena Island man who faces charges in a Tiger Express gas station shooting last year in which the victim later died from his injuries.
Trasi Campbell, a prosecutor with the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office, accused 20-year-old Deavion Burgess on Thursday of violating his GPS-monitoring bond by being involved in a different shooting near Burton two months ago.
“His GPS was pinging at a shootout while he was supposed to be at home on house arrest?” Circuit Judge Carmen Mullen asked Campbell.
The shooting took place on June 18 at a Shop N Go gas station on Parris Island Gateway, according to Campbell.
She said police arrested the St. Helena man a few days after the shooting because they believed he was involved.
Burgess, however, was never charged with a crime, according to Scott Lee, his defense attorney.
Two months later, “now he’s public enemy No. 1?” Lee said. He argued against revoking Burgess’ bond and said Burgess was driving back from work when the shooting happened.
The bond required him to stay at home in Burton, traveling only to and from work in Pooler, Ga. He was out on bond from an April 3, 2020 shooting, in which the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office charged him with attempted murder.
The agency said Burgess fired several shots at a car at the Tiger Express gas station on Sea Island Parkway.
Campbell, with the Solicitor’s Office, said Thursday that the man who was shot, Quentin Ventress, 26, was hospitalized and put on a ventilator for six months. He died in September from his injuries, and Burgess’ charge changed to murder.
Judge Mullen said she needed to see more evidence from the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office and from the GPS company before revoking his bond, because he was never charged.
“He’s going to stay where he is” at the Beaufort County jail for now, she said.
This story was originally published August 19, 2021 at 3:03 PM.
