Sanders found guilty

ST. GEORGE -- As his trial ended, Anthony Sanders faced too much evidence indicating he had shot and killed three people in North Charleston in July 2007.

Sanders was found guilty of murder Tuesday by Circuit Judge R. Markley Dennis, who then imposed a sentence of life in prison without parole.

Sanders agreed to forgo a jury trial and any appeal in exchange for the 1st Circuit Solicitor's Office's decision not to pursue the death penalty in his case, which was heard in the Dorchester County Courthouse.

Assistant Solicitor Blair Jennings said the family of the three victims -- Diane R. Grant, 44; her son, Jatavious DeVore, 20; and her daughter, DeAnna DeVore, 14 -- wanted to avoid the lengthy trial and appeals that are part of a death penalty case.

Despite Sanders' conviction, prosecutors and defense attorneys agree no one may ever know exactly what happened the night of July 10, 2007, at the Archdale Forest Apartments off Dorchester Road.

There were no eyewitnesses, and the gun was never found. Sanders didn't take the stand in his defense, nor did he address the judge before sentencing. His motive and relationship to the victims remain a mystery.

Jennings said Sanders became a suspect after bullet casings at the murder scene matched those of two other crime scenes, including shots fired outside the Anchor Bar on Spruill Avenue in North Charleston. A bouncer at the Anchor Bar identified Sanders as having fired shots that night.

Meanwhile, a search of Sanders' residence turned up a pair of Nike Air Force 1 sneakers in the same size as an impression found at the crime scene. Also, Sanders' safe included a copy of the July 12, 2007, edition of The Post and Courier, which included a story on the murders. Sanders wasn't charged with the crime until August.

Meanwhile, DNA collected from DeAnna DeVore's mouth indicated that Sanders was in the small group (one in every 260 people) that could match it.

Sanders' cell phone records also show he placed a call his girlfriend, who lived in the same complex as the victims, less than a minute after someone had called 911 to report the shooting. Sanders' call bounced off a tower that served the area around the apartment complex, which is near the intersection with Cross County Road.

"Every piece, if you looked at it individually, could be contested, but when you add it together, it's pretty overwhelming," Jennings said. "The challenge was tying it all together."

The trial lasted about a day. Both sides agreed not to call certain expert witnesses since the death penalty had been taken off the table and since there was no jury to educate about forensics or other crime-scene issues.

Dorchester County Public Defender Mark A. Leiendecker noted the state didn't investigate the man who had been present at the two earlier crime scenes where similar bullet casings were found and who had identified Sanders.

"The state got in bed with that devil and decided he wasn't responsible," he said.

While the speedy trial and the absence of appeals may bring the family a sense of closure, it didn't provide them with answers as to why Grant and Jatavious DeVore were found shot in their apartment or why DeAnna DeVore was found behind another building, partially clothed and shot several times.

They won't even know why two of Grant's grandchildren, ages 1 and 5, were spared as they slept inside the same apartment.

"Why it happened and how it happened, nobody is going to know," Leiendecker said.

Reach Robert Behre at rbehre@postandcourier.com or 937-5771.