SHANQUAN PICKETT - 5 yo (2008) - Florence SC

A jury has convicted a 16-year-old boy
accused of beating 5-year-old Florence boy to death after deliberating
for about four hours Wednesday afternoon.

Jermaine Mayweathers, who was 15 when the incident happened, was
sentenced to 30 years in prison after being tried as an adult in
connection with the death of Shanquan Pickett.

Shanquan died July 26, 2008, a day after someone struck him about
the head and body with a round metal object, according to Florence
County Sheriff’s Office reports.

The results of an autopsy performed by a pathologist at the Medical
University of South Carolina in Charleston indicated he died of blunt
force trauma, which led authorities to treat his death as a homicide.

Twelfth Circuit Court Judge Ralph King Anderson Jr., who presided
over the trial, said no one in the courtroom could speak on Shanquan’s
behalf.

“Thankful is the word that I use from the heart, that this
5-year-old occupies a position of an angel in heaven,” he said. “And on
behalf of this angel, I pass this sentence today: the defendant is
committed to the state Department of Corrections for a term of 30
years.”

Twelfth Circuit Deputy Solicitor John Jepertinger prosecuted the
case with Assistant 12th Circuit Solicitor David Richardson, and
Florence attorney Carrington Wingard represented the teen. The jury was
seated Monday.

“Deputy Solicitor John Jepertinger and Assistant Solicitor David
Richardson did an outstanding job prosecuting this case through family
court to circuit court, and securing a conviction,” 12th Circuit
Solicitor Ed Clements III said. “We had a very good case prepared by
the Florence County Sheriff’s Office.”

Anderson set a personal recognizance bond March 19 for Jermaine
under the conditions he not leave Florence County without the court’s
approval; give a written report every two weeks about his activities;
and attend school, church and seek medical attention when not at home.
Jermaine had been staying with his great-aunt in Florence since
December and was attending an alternative school. He also did not miss
any court dates since his arrest July 29 on a homicide by child abuse
charge.

Family Court Judge Jerry D. Vinson previously ruled Jermaine would
be tried as an adult after a two-day waiver hearing during which he
heard testimony from several witnesses and examined an assessment
completed by the state Department of Juvenile Justice, Clements said.

Investigators said the abuse that led to Shanquan’s death happened
at a Gilbert Drive mobile home in Florence where the 5-year-old had
been staying just prior to his death, Florence County Sheriff’s Capt.
Brett Camp said shortly after the incident.

Investigators said Shanquan lived at the home with his mother, his brother, his mother’s boyfriend and his son.

Florence County EMS personnel were summoned to the the home at Smith
and Smith Mobile Home Park after receiving a call that a child was
having trouble breathing, Florence County Sheriff Kenney Boone said in
a previous interview.

When help arrived, Shanquan was found at the home without an adult and could not breathe on his own at all, Boone said.

Shanquan later died after he was taken off a respirator at McLeod
Regional Medical Center in Florence, Florence County Coroner M.G.
“Bubba” Matthews said in an earlier report.