Circuit Court Judge Michael Nettles accepted a guilty plea from Kenny Eagle, age 27, in Dillon County General Sessions Court. Eagle admitted his guilt to assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature and possession of a weapon during a violent crime for shooting a man three times in August of 2019. During the hearing, Eagle said he shot the man because the man had disrespected Eagle’s mother during a verbal altercation. The victim had no weapon and did not make any threats of physical harm during either the verbal dispute or when Eagle approached him.
Eagle was originally facing the charge of attempted murder (which carries a maximum penalty of 30 years), but Assistant Solicitor Shipp Daniel allowed Eagle to plead to the lesser included charge of assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature (which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years) since Eagle was admitting his guilt. Beyond that, no plea deals were offered, so Judge Nettles had a range of 0 to 20 years when deciding his sentence. After hearing from both the victim and Eagle and members of both families, Nettles sentenced Eagle to 13 years in prison. According to South Carolina law, Eagle must serve 85% of that sentence.
“We are doing everything we can from our position as a prosecutor’s office to combat this gun violence,” said Daniel. “Prosecutors can’t walk the streets ourselves and stop crime from happening. We get involved once a crime has been committed, and there have many recent examples of gun violence cases where we have gotten convictions and significant sentences. This is yet another example.”
Daniel commended the Dillon Police Department for its work on this case.