Attack at laundromat leads to gun and drug convictions for Columbia man
A Columbia man who was arrested after attacking a 65-year-old woman at a laundromat was convicted on gun and drug charges, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said Monday.
A three-day trial in federal court in Columbia concluded Friday when 39-year-old Eric Jahann Nixon was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, and possession of crack cocaine, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release.
Nixon has been convicted of several crimes in the past, court records show. But he was found not guilty of murder following a high-profile 2017 shooting at a Columbia Waffle House.
On Oct. 16, 2020, Nixon was taken into custody after the Columbia Police Department received multiple 911 calls about a man with a gun assaulting a 65-year-old female attendant at Wash City Laundromat, according to the release. That’s off Broad River Road, about half a mile from the intersection with Bush River Road.
During a search of Nixon, officers found a loaded Hi-Point .380 caliber handgun in his waistband in addition to a pill bottle containing a baggie of 3 grams of crack cocaine and a razor blade, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Nixon is prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition under federal law based upon prior state and federal convictions.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Nixon’s prior convictions include: possession of a stolen motor vehicle (1998, Lexington County), conspiracy to commit money laundering (2005, federal conviction in Columbia), assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature (2005, Lexington County), throwing bodily fluid on correctional officer (2005, Lexington County), indecent exposure to adult (2010, federal conviction in West Virginia), forgery (2013, Lexington County), distribution of crack cocaine near a school (2016, Richland County), and unlawful carrying of a firearm (2018, Richland County) — which was related to the Waffle House shooting.
Nixon faces a maximum of 10 years in prison, a fine of $250,000, and three years of supervised release on the gun charge, according to federal law.
Due to a prior felony drug offense, Nixon faces a maximum sentence of two years in prison and a fine of $2,500 on the drug possession charge.
Senior U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie, of Columbia, presided over the trial and will sentence Nixon by July 13, according to the release.
In addition to Columbia police, the case was investigated by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and prosecuted by assistant U.S. Attorney Stacey Haynes.
Witnesses at trial also included representatives from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division; the S.C. Department of Corrections; the S.C. Department of Probation, Pardon, & Parole Services; the Lexington County Clerk of Court’s Office; the U.S. Probation Office; and the FBI.
