COLUMBIA, S.C. — A man is now serving a life sentence without parole for killing a man who was sleeping in his Columbia home.
Late Thursday afternoon, 29-year-old Troy Stevenson was sentenced, a day after a jury found him guilty of killing 62-year-old Charlie Jackson Jr.
On April 5, 2021, Stevenson shot into Jackson's home, killing him in his sleep.
Dale Scott, who prosecuted the case for the solicitor’s office, said, “I thought that was an appropriate sentence, and it sounds like what he did and what I hoped he would do was to craft a sentence that reflected that recklessness.”
Around 2:45 a.m. on the night of the killing, prosecutors said Stevenson drove by the house where Jackson was sleeping and shot it up with a semi-automatic rifle.
Prosecutors said Stevenson was trying to kill Jackson’s daughter and her boyfriend but went to the wrong home and opened fire.
“I feel like the judge did what he had to do. He saw through everything and he just did what he had to do,” said Ivy Wilson-Jackson, Jackson’s wife.
She and her children were in court for the hearing. Three years later, they say they still feel the loss.
“He’s been the glue to our family. He’s been there for his entire family. He was the 10th child of 14,” Wilson-Jackson explained.
The sentencing comes at a time when gun violence within the Richland County community remains high. Fifth Circuit Solicitor Byron Gipson hopes that will change with sentences like this.
“Juries hand out guilty verdicts here. People will see that and maybe that can start to change the tide of some of the senseless violence that is going on now,” Gipson said.
Stevenson is also known for his involvement in another high-profile case. He was one of three men charged in the 2013 killing of Kelly Hunnewell, who was killed by a group of suspects at a local bakery. Stevenson was found not guilty, while the other two suspects were convicted.