New details in deadly Bojangles shooting in Mauldin

Mauldin police Detective Robert Thacker testified Monday at a preliminary hearing in connection with a deadly shooting outside of Bojangles, providing new details about the January homicide.

Trevonte Watts, 20, of Simpsonville, was one of four people charged in the fatal shooting of 19-year-old Savon Jair Allen. Watts appeared at his preliminary hearing Monday in handcuffs and orange inmate clothing.

Watts, William Zachary Newton, 19, of Simpsonville, and Michele Elizabeth Eich, 17, of Simpsonville, were charged with murder, attempted robbery and attempted murder, according to arrest warrants.

A 15-year-old girl was also charged in the case but her name is not being released because of her age. She was the driver of the vehicle that cameras captured outside of the Bojangles, Thacker said.

She told detectives they went to Bojangles, 801 E. Butler Road, to buy marijuana on the night of Jan. 30. The girls also told authorities that Watts told Newton, "they were going to do a lick," referencing a robbery, Thacker testified.

The teen driver let Watts and Newton get out of the car at an apartment complex next to the Bojangles, while the girls remained in the car. Watts and Newton walked up a stairway behind the restaurant to the parking lot, Thacker said.

The detective said Watts was carrying an AR-15 and Newton also had a firearm. Allen and his acquaintance were inside a burgundy pickup truck, police said.

"As we determined from the video, as the defendants made their approach behind the vehicle, you could see Mr. Watts attempt to pull on the door handle," Thacker said.

The driver then put the truck in reverse and tried to back out. Shots were fired. Watts was shot in the elbow, Allen was shot in the eye, and the driver was shot in the hand.

Watts dropped the assault rifle, and the pickup truck driver got out of the vehicle and ran off, Thacker said. Newton picked up the weapons and put them in the truck, and they took Watts to the emergency room, Thacker said.

One gun was retrieved from the passenger side floorboard of the truck at the scene, Thacker said. Police found other guns outside of a residence in southern Greenville County; detectives confirmed the guns were stolen from Laurens County, according to arrest warrants. Newton and Watts were charged in March in connection with the stolen weapons, according to court records.

No money or drugs were ever exchanged, Thacker said.

Another teen arrested in fatal Bojangles shooting

Judge Jessica Salvini decided Watts' charges should be bound over for presentation to a grand jury.

Assistant Solicitor Kimberly Howard said the Solicitor's Office is prosecuting the case under "the hand of one, hand of all" theory.

Alex R. Stalvey, Watts' attorney, asked for charges to be dropped against his client, arguing the state had not established probable cause.

"There has been no evidence and no testimony that my client ever fired a weapon or had any involvement in setting any kind of drug deal up," Stalvey said. "It would appear that there is no evidence that my client or the co-defendant (Newton) were the first aggressors in this situation. There's some information that Detective Thacker has admitted not being aware of that would indicate a motive for one of the victims to actually come after my client."

Thacker said police don't believe the assault rifle was fired because officers did not find shell casings at the scene. Police sent the firearm to SLED to be analyzed but a report on the weapon has not been returned, Thacker said.

Newton and Watts are being held at the Greenville County Detention Center without bond. Newton, who is represented by the public defender's office, has not had a preliminary hearing.

Eich was released from jail March 7, according to jail records. She was ordered to have no contact with the surviving victim, according to court records. She was also placed on electronic monitoring and ordered to be on curfew from dusk to dawn, according to a court document.

Eich's attorney, Thomas Quinn, did not return a phone message seeking comment Monday afternoon.

Hearing for murder suspect moved for security reasons

Staff writer Romando Dixson covers crime for The Greenville News. Follow this case and others through his Facebook page, Romando The Reporter.