Man sentenced to life for 2009 shooting death of Berkeley County man

A Berkeley County man was sentenced to life in prison on Friday after a jury found him guilty of the murder of 30-year-old Reginald Porcher.

Ron Santa McCray, 46, of Wando, is accused in the shooting death of Porcher on Sept. 16, 2009 at Jack Primus Road, off Clements Ferry Road.

Porcher was the brother of Robert Porcher III, a former all-pro NFL football player for the Detroit Lions. He was in court with several members of his family and told the judge about the impact his brother’s death has had on them.

“Our family chain has been broken, not by sickness, old age, but by Ron McCray,” Robert Porcher said.

At the end of the week-long trial in Moncks Corner, the jury decided not to believe McCray’s claim that he killed Porcher out of self-defense. McCray shot Porcher with a 12-gauge sawed-off shot gun in broad daylight, according to prosecutors.

McCray, who testified on Thursday, told the jury he went to confront Porcher about an accusation someone had made against Porcher. Several witnesses testified that they saw McCray shoot Porcher as he tried to get away from him in his truck.

Witnesses also claim they saw McCray kicking Porcher and spitting on him as he laid dying on the ground. Before he was sentenced, McCray apologized to the family for the death, but insisted it was an accident.

Porcher’s family told the judge they wanted McCray to spend his life in prison.

“You don’t get over murder. The grieving process, it never ends. I cry for my loving son everyday,” Reginald Porcher’s mother Marilyn Porcher told the judge.

Read tomorrow’s edition of the Post and Courier for more details.