Man who gunned down Sunhouse gas station employee says his prison sentence is too long
A man who shot and killed a Sunhouse clerk says his prison sentence is too long and wants it reduced by 15 years.
McKinley Daniels filed his post-conviction relief request in Horry County Court this week. Often, convicts will use the request to say how their lawyer was ineffective and ask for a new trial.
Daniels stated his lawyers were ineffective because they allowed a judge to sentence him to 45 years on murder and armed robbery charges. Daniels initially faced the death penalty before pleading guilty to the two counts.
In the handwritten filing, Daniels says the murder statue only allows the judge to sentence him to 30 years in prison for murder. He did not expand on his reasoning or defense of that view.
State code for murder reads: “A person who is convicted of or pleads guilty to murder must be punished by death, or by a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment for thirty years to life.”
Daniels didn’t ask for a new trial, only requesting that his sentence is changed to 30 years.
Daniels and two other men were arrested for a string of robberies and two murders at Horry County convenience stores. A jury convicted James Daniels for his role in the spree, and the judge sentenced him to life in prison. Jerome “JJ” Jenkins was also convicted in May 2019 and sentenced to death for his role in the case.
Investigators say in January 2015, the three suspects acted as a robbery team. They robbed and killed Balla Paruchuri at a Sunhouse convenience store on S.C. Highway 905.
Weeks later, the team robbed the Scotchman on Lake Arrowhead Road and the Sunhouse store on Oak Street in the Conway area. At that Sunhouse, clerk Trish Stull was shot and killed. Prosecutors say Jenkins and Daniels entered the stores and robbed them while James Daniels served as lookout and driver.
The community was on edge following the shooting, and officers visited shops at night to help employees safely close their businesses.
This story was originally published January 14, 2020 at 12:42 PM.
