Andrae King sat expressionless, staring straight ahead as the jury's verdict in the three-day murder trial was read.

"Andrae J. King, murder. The jury having returned a verdict of guilty, the defendant is committed to the State Department of Corrections for life," Circuit Court Judge J. Knox McMahon said, "without parole."

Jurors also returned guilty verdicts against King, 31, on charges of assault and battery with intent to kill and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime.

During the process of charging the law, jurors were told they could find the Santee man not guilty of murder yet guilty of the lesser included crime of voluntary manslaughter.

However, it took jurors little more than an hour to return the triple guilty verdict, including the guilty verdict for murder.

"I'm very pleased with the jury's verdict and with the judge's sentence," said First Assistant Solicitor Bryan Jeffries, who prosecuted the case, along with First Assistant Solicitor Thomas Scott. "The judge's sentence is appropriate. He (King) can't get out and harm Monique Green as when he tried to kill her."

Per South Carolina law, King will never be eligible for parole.

"Life means life," Jeffries said.

King was charged with murder in connection with the July 9, 2005 nightclub shooting in which his former girlfriend, Monique Green, and her cousin, Matthew Jenkins, were shot.

Jenkins died from a single gunshot wound to the forehead while Green was blasted in the face with a 9mm handgun. The round entered her cheek and exited the back of her neck.

"It was my day, and it was my cousin's day," Green said after King was led out of the courtroom Thursday. "I'm just glad it's over with."

The 2005 shooting began over an ended relationship between King and Green, police say. Two days prior to the shooting, Green and King are believed to have ended a romantic relationship.

Then, on July 9, 2005, Green went into King's nightclub, Touch Of Class, located about a mile-and-a-half southwest of Eutawville, and a verbal dispute ignited. When Green refused to leave the crowded club, King pulled out a gun.

Earlier this week, Green te.jpgied that as she lay critically injured on the floor, she heard a gun click twice. Prosecutors believe King tried to shoot his former girlfriend again but the gun jammed.

Jenkins was killed instantly. He was found on the club's dance floor unresponsive.

After arriving at the nightclub, police issued a BOLO for King's green Lexus when he could not be located. About an hour after the shooting, Summerville police spotted him in Dorchester County. King was arrested after a high speed chase in which police used spike strips to slow his vehicle before ramming it off the road.

A 9 millimeter handgun was located underneath King's vehicle.

In his closing arguments, public defender Andrew Brown offered a different scenario. Brown said King wasn't contesting the charge levied against him for shooting Green. The seconds before Jenkins was shot are what should be scrutinized, Brown said.

The defense attorney questioned what he believes was conflicting testimony from the state's witnesses, countering that the shooting was self-defense.

On Wednesday, King te.jpgied that Jenkins had either come toward him in an aggressive manner or moved his hands in what King felt was a threat. Brown pointed out the prosecution's state pathologist had concluded Jenkins was shot at close range, supporting the self-defense theory.

"At some point, Mr. Jenkins went from 15 feet away to what I call three to five feet away pretty quick," Brown told jurors. "The state's own doctor, Dr. (Janice) Ross, said the wound is consistent with someone charging."

The state pointed out, however, that per South Carolina law, King had an obligation to retreat rather than pull out a handgun to end a threat, whether real or perceived.

"How is there any doubt, much less a reasonable doubt, that that man committed murder?" Jeffries said, pointing at King. "It's important that the people of Orangeburg County say this is unacceptable."

T&D Staff Writer Richard Walker can be reached by e-mail at rwalker@timesanddemocrat.com or by telephone at 803-533-5516. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

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