Accused St. Helena murderer has 14 new charges linked to bar shooting, police say
The man accused of fatally shooting four people at a St. Helena Island bar now faces over a dozen additional charges stemming from the October mass shooting, according to the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.
St. Helena resident Anferny Devon Freeman, 27, would be charged with 14 counts of first-degree assault and battery, Daniel Gourley II, the sheriff’s office general counsel, told reporters on Monday.
The counts correspond with 14 people Freeman is accused of nonfatally shooting at Willie’s Bar and Grill the morning of Oct. 11, Gourley said. The warrants would be read to Freeman on Monday afternoon at the Beaufort County jail, where the suspect has been in custody since being charged with four counts of murder in October.
Gourley declined to comment on why the charges came at this time and whether investigators had been awaiting results from ballistics testing. Police decided on the felony assault charges — each of which carries a maximum of 10 years in prison — with guidance from the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office, he said.
“Attempted murder requires a specific intent, so it would require this prosecution to be able to specifically prove that Anferny Freeman had the specific intent to shoot and kill all 14 individuals, which is a significant burden for the prosecution to be able to prove,” Gourley said.
Sheriff: Police ‘about midway through’ shooting investigation
Sheriff P.J. Tanner, who also spoke to reporters Monday morning about his recent decision to retire, said his agency was probably “about midway” through its large-scale investigation into the mass shooting.
“This is a very, very large crime scene. There was a lot of evidence collected,” Tanner said. “(We did) dozens and dozens of interviews, and interviews are still ongoing now, so this case is not near completion.”
Tanner said any discussion of a possible third shooter would happen at a later date: “It’s not something we can talk about now.”
Police believe three shooters were involved in the gunfight outside Willie’s Bar and Grill, one of whom — 22-year-old Beaufort man Kashawn “KK” Smalls-Glaze — was fatally shot.
Tanner previously said the shooting arose from an “ongoing feud” between Glaze and Freeman. The two, along with another person, allegedly opened fire in the bar’s parking lot, prompting chaos at the venue as patrons scrambled to safety. Witnesses said they heard automatic gunfire.
The new charges come as lawsuits related to the shooting begin to accumulate, most against former bar operator Willie Turral. The first suit, filed in December by a woman who says she was shot in the back, names Freeman as a defendant.
This story was originally published March 16, 2026 at 2:30 PM.
