Judge denies bond for Walterboro shooting suspect

WALTERBORO -- Two witnesses saw 19-year-old Danziel Chapman inside a car that a barrage of high-powered gunfire was unleashed from, killing three people and wounding six last month, a prosecutor said in court Thursday.

Fourteenth Circuit Solicitor Duffie Stone also said during a bond hearing that Chapman's hands and clothes tested positive for gunshot residue shortly after the Nov. 10 shootings outside a Gerideau Street home.

Chapman, who is charged with one count of murder in the death of 21-year-old Christopher Powell, is the only person who has been arrested in connection with the killings so far. Also killed were 20-month-old Shaniyah Burden and 45-year-old Charles "Bubba Dog" Kittrell.

Circuit Judge Ernest Kinard denied Chapman bond until March as authorities investigate who else might have been involved.

Chapman's family contends he wasn't at the crime scene. Amani Hills, Chapman's fiancee and mother of his 1-year-old son, is one of at least three witnesses prepared to testify that Chapman was with them at the time of the shootings, his attorney said.

"That day he was at my house. We was on the computer," Hills told the judge. "They have an innocent person in jail right now."

Many residents suspect gang activity was to blame for the drive-by shooting. In the wake of the shootings, extra federal, state, county and local law enforcement officers were called in to help restore order.

E.W. Bennett Jr., Chapman's attorney, said there are still a lot of questions around the state's case. He said investigators have yet to give him a lot of information because, they told him, they have at least two or three more co-defendants they plan to charge.

Bennett said at least one of the people who implicated his client had a reason to lie about Chapman being involved in the shootings.

Chapman told authorities in June that 23-year-old Kaylon Aiken tried to gun him down while he was riding in a car with his son, Bennett said in court. Chapman's vehicle was shot four times, according to a warrant.

Authorities originally charged Aiken with two counts of assault with intent to kill and possession of a weapon in the commission of a violent crime, but eventually the charges were dropped in favor of one count of firing a firearm in the city, court documents show.

"He's a very biased and prejudiced witness," Bennett said of Aiken.

Bennett said it was not the first time his client had been the target of a shooting. When he was 16, Chapman was shot in both legs and in the hand. He has been receiving disability checks once a month ever since.

Stone declined to discuss any of the prosecution's evidence outside of the courtroom. "We'll try the case when everybody is arrested and charged," he said.

Chapman attended Colleton County High School but was expelled his senior year, Bennett said.

Hills, his fiancee, said he always stayed with their child while she worked and bought their son whatever he needed.

"He is a good caring father," Hills said.

Bennett asked for a $30,000 bond with an electronic monitor because his client is not a flight risk and has no prior convictions for violent crimes.

Kinard made it clear, even before Chapman's family spoke, that he was not going to give Chapman a bond.

The suspect's sister, Pamela Chapman, spoke anyway. She said she knows in her heart that her brother was not involved. She said that ever since the crime, her family has been the target of vicious rumors.

"We hurt just like they hurt," she said of the victims' families. "It's hard for us. We can't even go on that side of town anymore. Because of our last name, people are casting stones."

Pamela Chapman also told Kinard that she fears her brother could be a target as a result of the accusations.

"My mother and sister may get mad at me for this, but I really think he needs to be protected," she said.

Kinard agreed. "That's why I'm not letting him out," he said.