Suspect found guilty in 2019 murder of Hilton Head student, will be sentenced as adult

St. Helena man Terrance Wing, 20, was convicted Thursday morning for the killing of Trey Blackshear, a high-achieving 18-year-old student who was shot to death in a Bluffton church parking lot in December 2019.

After more than two hours of deliberations Wednesday afternoon that carried over into the following morning, the jury found Wing guilty of murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime. The jury was comprised of eight men and four women, with four jurors being people of color.

Emotions were on edge in the courtroom gallery prior to Thursday morning’s conviction. Circuit Court Judge Carmen T. Mullen said any “outbursts” could result in contempt of court charges. After the verdict was read at 10:30 a.m., more than a few stifled sobs were audible from the defendant’s friends and family.

Port Royal defense attorney Jared Newman, who represents Wing, said a number of people would like to address the judge before his client was sentenced. Wing’s sentencing would occur either Friday or Monday, according to Mullen.

A murder conviction is punishable by a “mandatory minimum” of 30 years to life in prison under South Carolina law. Wing’s firearm conviction could add five years to that sentence.

Trial proceedings for the second defendant, 21-year-old Lady’s Island resident Xavier Da’Quan Barnes, have not yet been scheduled. Both defendants were 16 at the time but will be tried and punished as adults, a judge ruled about a year after the incident.

Barnes was called to the witness stand by prosecutors on Tuesday. Although he denied having a weapon at the time of the shooting, he testified that he saw Wing put the gun to Blackshear’s head.

Formerly charged in Blackshear’s death were Jaesean Jeffrey Redd and Kionna Michele Ferguson, both 24-year-old Burton residents. Their charges of accessory after the fact to murder were dismissed in March 2021, according to Beaufort County judicial records.

According to arrest warrants, Ferguson drove Redd and the two other suspects to the Lord of Life Lutheran Church off Buckwalter Parkway in Bluffton on Dec. 23, 2019, where an “attempted robbery” during a marijuana deal in Blackshear’s vehicle ended in gunfire. Prosecutors believe Barnes and Wing fired the fatal bullets, which struck the teen in the head and shoulder.

“The defendant unleashed an unmerciful death ... over $60 worth of weed,” said Assisant Solicitor Trasi Campbell, who prosecuted the case.

Blackshear graduated early from Hilton Head Island High School with high academic honors and a number of soccer scholarships, planning to study business administration in college to inherit his grandfather’s company. Friends and family remember the teen for his humor, youthful wisdom and “strong ability to put a smile on faces,” his obituary says.

Wing’s trial began on Monday at the Beaufort County Courthouse.

Attorneys clash over DNA, ‘red herring’ evidence

The jury heard closing arguments Wednesday afternoon from Campbell and Newman.

Referencing a computer-generated model of Blackshear’s car provided by the S.C. Law Enforcement Division, Campbell said about a dozen shots went off inside the vehicle. Two of those were fired in self-defense by Jordan Singleton, a friend of Blackshear who sat in the passenger seat during the robbery.

“Your bullets hit Trey over and over and over again,” Campbell said, pointing at Wing from across the courtroom. “And your kill shot was right up against his head.”

The assistant solicitor recalled testimony from Barnes, who was called to the witness stand by prosecutors on Tuesday. Although he denied having a weapon at the time, Barnes said he was in the backseat when he saw Wing put the gun to Blackshear’s head.

In his closing argument, Newman emphasized to the jury that there was no DNA evidence connecting Barnes to the murder weapons. Although Barnes’ trace DNA was found in the car’s backseat, Newman used an expert witness’ testimony on transfer DNA to argue that “any number of scenarios” could have brought the DNA into the vehicle.

With no reliable DNA evidence to follow, Newman argued, that only left Barnes’ testimony. The defense attorney called the co-defendant a “liar” for claiming on the witness stand that he did not have a gun during the fatal shooting.

“We’re going to convict a young soul on the basis of a liar?” Newman asked the jury.

The defense repeatedly returned to the subject of Andrew Lee Grober II, whose DNA was reportedly found on one of the firearms used in the murder. He chided law enforcement for not looking further into the 26-year-old Beaufort man, who is currently in custody at the Jasper County jail in connection with a December double murder outside a sports bar.

Campbell called the defense’s point on Grober a “red herring,” doubling down on the DNA and surveillance video evidence that she said puts Wing at the scene of the crime.

“Today, the responsibility for the murder of Trey Blackshear rests squarely ... at this table with this defendant,” Campbell said. “It’s not Xavier Barnes’ trial — not today.”