Jail inmate accused of second slaying

A man sitting in the county jail on a murder charge for more than a year has been accused of a second killing from 2007, Charleston police said.

Detectives served warrants on Vernon Deas, 19, on Wednesday for murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a violent crime.

The new charges relate to the fatal shooting of Devin Edwards, 20, on the upper peninsula, police said. A few minutes before 11 p.m. on Sept. 23, 2007, a gunfire detection system alerted police to shots at Hanover and Johnson streets.

Officers found Edwards lying on the sidewalk bleeding, a police report says. The 20-year-old had suffered several gunshot wounds and later died, the Charleston County Coroner's Office said.

Police and U.S. Marshals arrested Deas at a Franklin Street apartment Oct. 23 of last year in connection with a shooting on Line Street on Charleston's East Side. Leroy Simmons Jr., 30, died in that incident.

A murder warrant affidavit says Simmons was waiting for a cab on Line Street around 2:30 a.m. Oct. 19 when Deas approached him. After a fight, Simmons fell to the ground and Deas stood over him with a handgun. Deas fired, hitting Simmons three times, the affidavit states. Simmons died a few hours later.

Deas was at the county jail Wednesday awaiting a bond hearing. He will have to request an additional hearing for a circuit judge to set bail because of the severity of the charge.