Murder trial begins in Clemson student's slaying

The family of Clemson University student Steven Grich is looking for closure as the man accused of killing Grich goes on trial Monday in a Pickens County courtroom.

Lester Devaria Mosley Jr. faces murder and other charges in the case, in which 23-year-old Steven Grich was shot and killed in his off-campus home.

For Grich's family, the trial is the last part of an ordeal that began the night of of Dec. 8, 2012.

But Steven's story starts much earlier.

His dad, Steve Grich, remembers watching his son open the letter from Clemson University.

Steven, the son, had learning disabilities when he was younger, suffering from attention deficit disorder and struggling in school.

It was hard for Steven to tell his left from his right. In high school, he got Cs and Ds.

His parents helped him manage that struggle, working with teachers and pediatricians and relying on medication to help.

Clemson remained a dream.

On the day the letter arrived, his family gathered around and watched closely as Steven read it.

"All of a sudden, he got a real big grin on his face," his father recalled. "And he just showed us the paper. He said, 'I made it. I got in.'"

"It was a long, hard struggle for him to realize his potential, harness his intelligence and get through two prior (technical) colleges to finally get into Clemson," his father said. "He was finally blossoming into a young man with so much ambition and opportunity at his door."

That promising future was erased in horror when men wearing masks entered Steven Grich's town home at Chimney Ridge, a gated community in Central, through an unlocked back door just before 8:30 that night.

Several students, including Grich, were inside.

Some were forced to lie on a floor and pistol-whipped. Others escaped through a bedroom window.

Grich was shot and killed.

Mosley is charged with murder, possession of a weapon during a violent crime, attempted armed robbery and first-degree burglary, according to warrants. His attorney couldn't be reached for comment.

Mosley's trial is expected to last several days. Thirteenth Circuit Solicitor Walt Wilkins will be the lead prosecutor but won't seek the death penalty. He declined to discuss details of the case.

An electrical engineering student, Grich had no apparent connection to the suspects and was known to be dedicated to his studies, authorities said at the time.

The assailants broke in with the intent to take marijuana from a roommate, authorities said.

Jordan Charles Dalton of Central, Jaron Bradley Dalton of Six Mile, and Bernard Kadeem Ramsey of Central earlier this year pleaded guilty to charges of voluntary manslaughter, first-degree burglary and possession of a weapon in the commission of a crime. Sentencing has been deferred.

In court, they admitted they tried to rob the students of drugs and money. They implicated Mosley, who later was arrested in Toccoa, Ga., as the shooter.

At Mosley's trial begins, Steven Grich's family plans to be in court each day. But his father said the legal system will never balance the scale of what was lost.

"We as parents are devastated now," he said. "All that was connected to those hopes and dreams has been taken from our family.

"Our heart breaks every day living in the aftermath of it all."

But amid the grief, Steve Grich remembers the last Thanksgiving with his son.

"As Steven left the house he hugged me tightly and said, 'Dad, thanks for not giving up on me.'"

Jury selection complete in Clemson student murder trial

Staff writers Ron Barnett, Amy Burns and Ron DeKett contributed.