Beaufort man pleads guilty in July 2021 shooting that killed a man, wounded one other
A Beaufort man pleaded guilty Thursday to voluntary manslaughter in the July 2021 shooting that injured a woman and killed his cousin, according to a 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office press release.
Delmar Sanders, 30, of Beaufort was sentenced to 35 years in prison for the shooting that killed 29-year-old Deonne McLendon, of Burton.
McLendon, Sanders’ cousin, was described at his funeral as a jokester who wanted to make his family happy and in whose presence “you never saw a bad time.”
“Everybody and every child always had the same thing to say about Deonne — that Deonne was such a sweet person,” a family member said at the service three days after his death. “I’m not standing up here... to lie about him. Deonne was a bag of joy to every one of us; that’s why we are crying so much.”
On July 23, 2021, Sanders and McLendon were using drugs together before meeting up with a woman, Rhonda Randall, according to the press release. Randall’s connection to the men, whether she is a family member or friend, was not immediately available.
The three went to an ATM so that Sanders could take out money to buy more drugs. While on the way there, both the woman and McLendon complained about Sanders’ dangerous driving. Sanders pulled over to let McLendon drive at the Stanley Farm Road and Laurel Bay Road intersection. When they got out of the car, he shot McLendon twice before turning around to shoot Randall in the backseat, the release said.
McLendon was hit in the abdomen and tried to run away. Police found him approximately 100 yards from where he had been shot and told a deputy from the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office that Sanders had shot him. He died while on the way to Beaufort Memorial Hospital. Randall, who was hit in the arm, was able to get away.
Sanders gave three accounts of what happened that night that contradicted one another, said Assistant Solicitor Mary Jones with the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office. Those accounts included claims that the drugs he took that night made him paranoid the two were planning to rob him, that one of two other men in the car had shot his cousin and that McLendon allegedly had a gun in his lap. There was no evidence to support those claims, according to the press release.
“The facts made clear what Delmar Sanders would not — that he wasn’t defending himself and that his drug use does not excuse his actions,” Jones said.
Sanders turned himself in on July 25, 2021 in Georgia and was initially charged with murder, attempted murder and possession of a weapon in the commission of a violent crime. Judge Heath Taylor handed down the 35-year prison sentence, giving Sanders 30 years for manslaughter and five years for the weapons charge. His sentences are to be served consecutively.
Sanders’ attorney, Matthew Seth Paulk, could not immediately be reached for comment.
As of Sunday, Sanders was still incarcerated at the detention center in Beaufort.
