3 suspects appear in bond court

Charleston County Sheriff's Deputy Jeffrey DeGrow, father of two, was in a hospital room Saturday morning at the Medical University of South Carolina, surrounded by family and well wishers, recuperating from gunshots to his eye and arm.

"He's lucky to be alive, by the grace of God" DeGrow's lawyer, Craig Jones, said, adding that DeGrow was talking and beginning to see colors again.

Jones said DeGrow was still under heavy medication, so his version of exactly what happened Thursday morning on James Island might not come to light for some time. But one thing was clear, Jones said: "It was a crazy scene."

Also Saturday morning, in a small courtroom off Leeds Avenue, three young men charged in connection with DeGrow's shooting were brought before County Magistrate Priscilla Baldwin.

First to appear was Brandon J. Simmons, 21, who was found hiding in a car on James Island on Friday.

Simmons has been charged with assault and battery with intent to kill. DeGrow was investigating a burglary report near Cuffy and Seawater lanes when he confronted three men, according to an affidavit with Simmons' arrest warrant. The affidavit states that the three fled, and it charges Simmons with shooting DeGrow "multiple times in the head and body."

Simmons, wearing a blue and white polo shirt, told the judge that he had lived at 1861 Grimball Road since 1997. He said that he wasn't employed and that he was on "intensive" parole.

According to a State Law Enforcement Division records check, he was convicted in December 2008 of resisting arrest and six counts of second-degree burglary and sentenced to six years in prison. Baldwin ordered that Simmons be held without bail, and Simmons said nothing as he was taken away.

Simmons' brother, Theodore Akeem Simmons, 20, was charged with misprision of a felony. His arrest warrant states that he concealed "facts related to the identity of the suspect (Brandon Simmons)." Baldwin set his bail at $500,000.

"Five-hundred thousand?" Simmons cried out in surprise.

No family members were present in the courtroom to support the Simmons brothers, but six people showed up to support the third suspect, Curtis Tyrone Williams.

Williams, 20, also was charged with misprision of a felony. During the hearing, he told Baldwin that he was a kitchen cook at KFC, and that he was training to work the register. Baldwin set his bail at $200,000.

After the hearing, Williams' parents said they were searching for answers. "Never in my dreams did I think something like this would happen," said his mother, Valorie Walker.

She said her son was the youngest of three children, "a miracle baby" who weighed about a pound when he was born premature in 1989. She said she took him home that year in a size 11 shoebox. "He was the baby in the family," she said. "And we tried as hard as we could to give him the best opportunities we could."

She said her oldest child, Cedric Williams, is an offensive line coach at Tennessee State University and a former University of South Carolina football star. Walker said that she and her husband, Terry Walker, sent Curtis to a private military school in Columbia. They said he graduated with honors.

"He was training to be a manager (at KFC)," Terry said. "We don't know what happened. We're here because we're trying to get some answers." Meanwhile, DeGrow's attorney said that his client has been overwhelmed by well-wishers. "He said, 'I don't know how we could do that without the support of the community.' "

The Sheriff's Office has set up a "Deputy DeGrow Relief Fund" account at Carolina Federal Savings Bank after people asked how they could help with the deputy's recovery.

Reach Tony Bartelme at 937-5554 or tbartelme@postandcourier.com.