Family revisits crime while Solicitor's Office announces its intent to seek death penaltyQuestions Linger By Noah Haglund (Contact)
The Post and Courier
Monday, July 14, 2008
Mic Smith A rose rests on the grave of Jatavious DeVore, who along with his mother, Diane Grant, and sister, DeAnna DeVore, were murdered last year. The 1st Circuit Solicitor's Office said last week it intends to seek the death penalty against the man charged with the slayings. 
Mic Smith Shantell DeVore Miller (left) talks with cousin Nadine Ballard about the triple homicide on Thursday. Video
Shantell DeVore Miller talks in the Estill, S.C. about her cousin Diane Grant, 44. Grant was killed July 10, 2007 at the Archdale Forest Apartments off Dorchester Road along with her 14-year-old daughter, DeAnna DeVore, and her 20-year-old son, Jatavious DeVore. Watch » GIFFORD — Shantell DeVore Miller used to have strong objections to capital punishment. She even wrote a paper explaining her position while in community college a few years ago. But looking over the graves of three family members Thursday — a year to the day after they were killed at an apartment complex near Dorchester Road— she wasn't so sure. The 1st Circuit Solicitor's Office said last week that it intends to seek the death penalty against the man charged with the slayings. "Now that it's hit so close and so personally, I've had to let up on my thought process," Miller said. "If he's truly guilty, I would not be against it." Diane Grant, 44; her younger son, Jatavious DeVore, 20; and her daughter, DeAnna DeVore, 14, were shot at the Archdale Forest Apartments on July 10, 2007. Though the crime occurred in unincorporated Dorchester County near North Charleston, the news hit especially hard in rural areas a two-hour drive away. Grant had grown up in the small Hampton County communities of Scotia and Gifford. She worked at a plastics company in the town of Hampton before moving to the Charleston area. DeAnna and Jatavious DeVore attended public schools in Estill, where a memorial service after the deaths drew hundreds. Back in Hampton County, Grant had been known to work two or three jobs at once. The mother of three even commuted across Jasper and Beaufort counties to work cleaning jobs on upscale Hilton Head Island. During the long hours of work, extended family often helped look after her children. Grant had moved about five years ago and took a job at the Robert Bosch plant on Dorchester Road, according to Miller, an Allendale County resident who is the first cousin of DeAnna and Jatavious DeVore' father. "She worked a lot and she worked very hard," Miller said. Life in Charleston seemed to be going well for the family. Grant was excited about her grandchildren from her oldest son, Marquis Grant, who lives in Jacksonville. DeAnna was a popular student at Oakbrook Middle School. She was looking forward to starting high school at the end of the summer. Jatavious DeVore had been enrolled in a job-training program in Bamberg County that he hoped would put him on a career track. He had come back home to his mom's house to visit for a few days. Then, the unexpected happened. Grant and Jatavious DeVore were found slain in the apartment early on a Tuesday morning, after neighbors reported hearing gunshots during the night. Later that morning, DeAnna's body was discovered near another building in the complex. An explanation for the shootings has never surfaced. Family members are puzzled. Police and prosecutors have only been able to offer tidbits of science that point to a suspect, yet fail to answer the burning question: Why? Three weeks after the slayings, the Dorchester County Sheriff's Office arrested a man who lived in the next subdivision over from the victims' home in Archdale Forest Apartments. The Sheriff's Office said the gun used in the killings matched two incidents in March 2007, and tied Anthony Sanders to the crimes. One of the previous incidents involved shots fired into the air on North Charleston's Spruill Avenue, the other shots fired into a house on Hunters Ridge Lane, a residential street off Ashley Phosphate Road. Sanders has past convictions for crack cocaine possession, simple assault and driving under the influence. To date, authorities have not discussed how he might have known the family. Assistant 1st Circuit Solicitor Blair Jennings said on Friday that prosecutors expected to file paperwork this week with the Clerk of Court in St. George, giving notice of their intent to seek the death penalty against Sanders. Also on Friday, sheriff's Capt. Tom Marshall confirmed that detectives have not pinpointed a motive in the case. The suspect has been in custody since his arrest. He is currently being held without bail at the Dorchester County jail in St. George on three murder charges. Grant's most recent job before moving to the Charleston area had been at TO Plastics, a factory that makes machine parts in Hampton. "She was real serious about her work, but we all liked to cut up a little," said Laura Carter, a 19-year veteran of the company who was there before Grant arrived. Candy Harmon, who started later, called Grant a go-getter: "Diane would be in 10 places at once." Charles Hosendove had known Grant long before they worked at TO Plastics, since they were about 13 years old. They were only four months apart in age and had attended school together. "Nothing much bothered Diane," he said. "If it did, she never let it show." The co-workers held a going-away party when Grant left. They wouldn't have done it for just anyone. After she moved, she still stopped by to say hello when she was in town, the last time about a month before she was killed. On Thursday, Miller and another cousin of the slain family members, Nadine Ballard, visited Grant, DeAnna and Jatavious DeVore's graves in the Mount Zion Baptist Church Cemetery near Gifford. They had come to the remote burial site down several miles of dirt road on the first anniversary of the deaths. The two relatives swept the graves and planted a rose bush along the perimeter. Miller tied three balloons by DeAnna's grave for the Sweet 16 birthday she never got to celebrate. It would have been on Wednesday of this year. Reach Noah Haglund at nhaglund@postandcourier.com or 937-5550. |
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Comments
This article has 24 comment(s)
Posted by FiscalConservative on July 14, 2008 at 6:21 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The death penalty is too humane. We need more painful punishments.
Posted by ln1959 on July 14, 2008 at 8:23 a.m. (Suggest removal)
FiscalConservative;
I agree with you. We need something that will show the pain these punk killers will see. Like burning them at the stake in the middle of the city.
Posted by Early on July 14, 2008 at 8:34 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Should have never moved to the Charleston area. In 5 years, we will be number ONE in violent crime.
After reading pretty much daily about the crime in our area I have come to the conclusion that intellect cannot overcome ignorance. We are eat-up with ignorance and breeding it faster than intellect.
Posted by Girleygirl on July 14, 2008 at 9:47 a.m. (Suggest removal)
This is still sad.
Posted by Tammie on July 14, 2008 at 10:52 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I used to work with a relative of this family and it still hurts her to this day. This is still a sad story.
Posted by gooose53 on July 14, 2008 at 11:04 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Intellect - 1. the power or faculty of the mind by which one knows or understands, as distinguished from that by which one feels and that by which one wills; the understanding; the faculty of thinking and acquiring knowledge.
2. capacity for thinking and acquiring knowledge, esp. of a high or complex order; mental capacity.
3. a particular mind or intelligence, esp. of a high order.
4. a person possessing a great capacity for thought and knowledge.
5. minds collectively, as of a number of persons or the persons themselves.
Don't think that lack of intellect has anything to do with people who kill. It has more to do with greed and a lack of respect for life. We don't teach morals, respect, discipline anymore. What do you expect? We want to take God out of everything......see what you get!
Posted by nikkiP on July 14, 2008 at 12:02 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Woah woah woah, just because someone says they believe in a higher power doesn't mean they're religious! Don't lump us all in with these people.
And I think believing in something has little to show for the people that are murdering other human beings. Gooose had it right when they said intellect has nothing to do with it. I'm sure these people know that what they do is wrong, they just lack the compassion (or fear?) to refrain from doing it.
The death penalty needs to be amended before it can really be considered a deterrent, but this article does go to show how it can feel for someone who loses a loved one to something as atrocious as murder.
Posted by bkeelin on July 14, 2008 at 12:23 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Religion doesn't have anything to do with, it's the lack of religion that it has to do with.
And not so much even a lack of religion as it is a lack of relationship with Jesus Christ.
Ideologies regardless of origin I believe is a more accurate way of describing what you're talking about. The godless want to attack and prey upon others, not those who have a relationship with Jesus. Don't just lump Christianity in with the other religions.
We are told we weren't created in the image of God but instead we came from monkeys, therefore we have no value for life, no wonder people kill each other.
way off CB and I generally agree with a lot of your posts.
Posted by Early on July 14, 2008 at 1:14 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I really don't think they have intellect. I think they simply think that's it's OK as long as you don't get caught.
Posted by grannyofsix on July 14, 2008 at 1:28 p.m. (Suggest removal)
This is so sad. This is why I moved from Charleston and Summerville, I could see it coming. Not that it won’t happen here. But, God this poor women working so hard for her children. I can think of a lot of things I would like to do to the person who did this. But as I was told before, children sometimes read this post. But after I was finished doing these things then give him a slow painful death. Sorry I do get emotional about these things.
Posted by kerwin1959 on July 14, 2008 at 1:38 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I agree with CB & bkeelin; people who do this are heartless, mindless people who(for whatever reason) no longer have respect for their lives or the lives of others.
People who kill others have made personal choices, but drugs, alcohol, abuse, or environment could have an influence on their choice. Murderers are already dead in their hearts; therefore, to kill another person is only an act of vengeance, survival or the randomness of their decision. The God I worship is not present in a murderers heart when they kill.
Can murderers believe in God? Sure. But are they living their life as God would want them to? No. However, God didn't desert them; they made the decision to desert Him. As bkeelin wrote, they are godless; if you are godless, then you can easily fall victim to the evils of Satan.
Is the death penalty appropriate? I don't know. If my loved ones were killed by someone like this monster, I don't know what I would feel; If I was a juror, I don't know how I would cast my vote. I can't say how I would react until I had the facts in front of me.
I believe in punishment; I just don't know if the death punishment is enough of a punishment for such a godless, evil man. To me, solitary confinement for life might be worse for the criminal, but a waste of prison space and taxpayers money....
Posted by guidedbystewart on July 14, 2008 at 3:26 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I concur with CB on this one, just because a person fails to believe in god, Jesus Christ or whatever, doesn’t mean they lack good moral character. I seems that many Christians believe that atheists are a bunch of evil hedonist that cause havoc on society but in reality this is not the case!
Posted by guidedbystewart on July 14, 2008 at 3:47 p.m. (Suggest removal)
also bkeelin, it is these type comments (christians that look there nose down at people that don't believe), that alienates us from religion, and causes nonbelievers to have disdain for people like you!
Posted by proudmomma on July 14, 2008 at 4:06 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Does that last sentence in the article make sense to anyone?
Posted by Girleygirl on July 14, 2008 at 4:33 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Proudmamma- they tied 3 balloons on her grave for her birthday. The girl would have turned 16 on Wendesday if she was alive.
Posted by DuncanProctor on July 14, 2008 at 6:31 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Anthony was a very gifted and educated man. He was just going through some rough times in his life at that time. Maybe we can petetion for the charges to be dropped. If and only IF he really did this then I think he was most likely temporarily insane. The Anthony Sanders I know would never do anything like this. And besides.. where is the real evidence? The police show white people a black man all over the news and say he did it and automatically all of the white people claim he is guilty
Posted by MRSCVS on July 14, 2008 at 7:41 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I remember this horrible incident….
My heart ached for this family.
I pray that murdering piece of scum never see the day of light.
You should get the same chance you gave this beautiful family…DEATH 3 times over!!!!
Forgive me for that but it is the TRUTH….
Posted by burton on July 14, 2008 at 8:26 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Duncan, not once in your post did you even say anything about three people being killed! Anthony will get his day in court but please show some compassion. This was a senseless killing of three people! Plead temporarily insanity? If it is proven in a court of law that he killed these three people, he deserves the death penalty!
Posted by DuncanProctor on July 15, 2008 at 8:38 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Burton, Please refer to me as Mr. Proctor. How could I comment on the three people that were killed when I knew nothing about them. Anthony has been my friend for the last 15 years and he has always been there for me. If you knew him like I do then you know that there is no way in the world he could/would EVER do something like this.
Posted by CITYGIRL on July 15, 2008 at 1:31 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I KNEW THE ACCUSED VERY WELL I WENT TO HIGH SCHOOL WITH HIM AND CONTINUED TO HAVE A FRIENDSHIP WITH HIM AFTERWARD. MY PRAYERS GO UP AND PRAY THE BLESSINGS COME DOWN ON BOTH FAMILYS THAT ARE GOING THRU THIS TRYING TIME.I AGREE WITH MR PPOCTOR WHEN HE SAYS THAT THE ANTHONY I KNOW WOULD NOT DO ANYTHING LIKE THAT EVEN IN MY TRYING TIMES HE ALWAYS GAVE A HELPING HAND OR AKIND WORD. THE LAST TIME I SAW HIM WAS AWEEK PRIOR TO HIS ARREST AND HE KNEW I WAS GOING THRU A HARD TIME AND HE GAVE ME THIS PAPER THAT HE CAME ACROSS ABOUT KEEPING YPUR HEAD UP AND ALWAYS SMILE. I DONT KNOW ANYONE OF THE VICTIMS BUT I FEEL THERE HURT AND PAIN FOR I HAD TO GO THRU THIS SAME THING LAST YEAR WITH MY FAMILY. I KNOW THE AREAS THAT WERE MENTION IN THE ARTICLE AND KNOW THAT THEY ARE DRUG AREA THESE YOUNG GUYS PASS GUNS AROUND LIKE CANDY FOR A QUICK DOLLAR AND DONT REALLY THINK ABOUT WETHER SOME HAS DONE A CRIME WITH IT OR NOT. THAT IS THE ONLY THING THAT TIES HIM TO THIS KILLING, AND I JUST DONT THINK THAT IS ENOUGH TO KILL SOMEONE I BELIEVE THAT BECAUSE THIS WAS IN THE MEDIA SO MUCH THEY ARE LOOKING TO FIND SOMEONE QUICK AND GET IT AWAY WITH. IM NOT SAYING THAT HE DID OR DIDNT DO IT BECAUSE ONLY THE VICTIMS KNOW AND THEY ARE UNFORTUNELY NOT HERE TO TELL THERE SIDE AND IF HE DID DO IT HE WILL HAVE TO LIVE WITH THIS FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE. BUT IN CLOSING THE ANTHONY I KNOW AND HAVE HAD MY CHILDREN AROUND WOULD NOT DO ANYTHING LIKE THIS EVEN IN HIS DARKEST TIMES AND HE WAS GOING THRU ALOT AT THE TIME WITH THE DEATH OF HIS SISTER AND JUST EVERDAY LIFE.
Posted by Truth2008 on July 15, 2008 at 4:16 p.m. (Suggest removal)
My heart aches for this family .The reason people can go around doing all manner of evil is because the dont fear god.It's time for people to change,or feel the wrath of god.The death penalty is not right,the bible states thou shall not kill.
Posted by JDV on July 16, 2008 at 9:10 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I am SO SICK of people that claim "I knew this person and he would NEVER have done that" blah blah blah, in the case of accused murderers. NO, you do NOT "know" what this person, or any other person, may have done when they are out of sight of your all knowing eyes. When a crack head with a gun is standing in front of you you may find OUT what he is truly capable of, until then, you have really have NO idea. Let this guy have his day in court. The truth will out. Btw, I found the racial comment made by "proctor" bizzarre. What the **** has that got to do with it?? These were innocent people minding their own business in their own **** home. They deserve JUSTICE!! I pray they get it. ~May you R I P Diane, Jatavious & DeAnna~ Safe in the arms of Jesus now~
Posted by CITYGIRL on July 16, 2008 at 2:23 p.m. (Suggest removal)
JDV-----I POSTED THAT THE PERSON I KNEW WOULD NOT DO ANYTHING LIKE THIS AND YOU CAN BE SICK ALL YOU WANT THE TRUTH IS THE TRUTH AN IN MY POSTING I SAID I DONT KNOW IF HE DID OR IF HE DIDNT BECAUSE YOU ARE RIGHT YOU DONT KNOW WHAT SOME ONE WILL DO WHEN THEY ARE NOT AROUND YOU. I COMMENTED ON THE PERSON THAT I KNOW PERSONALLY AND LOO AT THE COMMENTS THAT WERE POSTED "FRY'EM" AND ALL THE THAT DUMB STUFF AND THEY DONT KNOW HALF OF THE EVEDINCE OR EVEN THE VICTIMS OR THE PERSON ACCUSSED BUT THEY ARE READY TO THROW HIM UNDER THE BUS. I AM A WELL EDUCATED BLACK WOMEN AND FEEL LIKE SOMETIMES THAT THEY DO DEPICT BLACK MEN IN A DIFFERENT LIGHT THAN THEY DO WHITE MEN. LOOK AT THE ARTICLE THAT THEY HAVE IN TODAYS PAPER FOR A WHITE MAN THEY OVERTURNED THE MANS SENTENCE BECAUSE THEY WERE NOT TOLD HE COULD HAVE GOTTEN A LESSER SENTENCE FOR MURDER BY PLEADING SELF DEFENSE WHEN HE KILLED HIS GIRLFRIEND AND DROVE HER BODY TO THE STATE LINE OF GA AND AL. NO ONE DOES THAT IF IT WAS SELF DEFENSE HE WAS TRYING TO GET AWAY WITH IT.
*******I JUST FEEL LIKE HE WILL HAVE HIS JUDGEMENT DAY IF HE DID IT OR NOT WITH GOD WHEN HE CLOSES HIS EYES FOR THE LAST TIME GIVE HIM A FAIR HEARING AND LOOK ALL THE EVIDENCE THERE IS NOTHING LIKE KILLING A INNONCENT MAN AN LORD KNOWS WE HAVE SEEN SO MUCH OF THAT TODAY WITH THESE MEN BLACK OR WHITE BEING JAILED AND RELEASED AFTER YEARS IN JAIL AND THEY DIDNT DO THE CRIME THEY WERE SENT TO JAIL FOR. *****************
Posted by JDV on July 16, 2008 at 6:39 p.m. (Suggest removal)
OMG...I just read that the DA is saying they have DNA from a sexual assault on a victim and that the allegations against Anthony Sanders are "absolutely horrendous", and thats why they are seeking the death penalty...which means that probably the little girl (as she was found separate from her mother & brother) was most likely the victim of the sex assault. If that DNA is Anthony Sanders, he will deserve exactly what he's going to get.....my God, it physically hurts me to think about what that that little girl may have gone through, she must have been so scared. How ******* horrible. ~R I P DeAnna ~