A Santee man on trial for the December 2006 shooting death of a 21-year-old man took the stand Thursday in his own defense.

Terrell Scott, 30, testified under oath he didn’t shoot anyone at a Shadowlawn Drive residence on Dec. 23, 2006.

“Did you commit robbery or any murder related to this event?” defense attorney Glenn Walters asked.

“No, sir,” Scott said.

Scott is facing a charge of murder in the shooting death of Harry Mack of 258 Shadowlawn Drive.

Prosecutors allege Scott entered the home with two armed co-defendants to rob four men inside the home of marijuana. Mack was shot once in the chest and later died at the Regional Medical Center.

Scott testified he had gotten married five days before the shooting, on Dec. 18. He said he was out with his new bride shopping for a home on the day of the robbery attempt. Later, he played dominoes with his mother and wife before retiring for the evening, he said.

Walters asked Scott to stand before the jury in order they might compare him to a police composite drawing of the suspect developed in the case.

“Were you there that night ...” Walters said before Scott spoke over him.

“To my knowledge, that don’t look like me,” Scott said.

Under cross-examination, First Circuit Assistant Solicitor Don Sorenson asked if Scott knew the men inside the home on Shadowlawn Drive – Will Gilyard, John Randolph, Lawrence Kelly and Mack.

Scott denied knowing three of the men and said he only vaguely recalled Gilyard.

He also denied knowing Daniel Young, who testified earlier that he and Scott had known one another for nearly a decade. Young had claimed that Scott admitted to the shooting.

“Do you recall calling Mr. Young a snitch while you were both in the holding cell?” Sorenson said.

“No, I don’t,” Scott said.



After Scott’s defense team rested its case, Sorenson called Orangeburg-Calhoun Regional Detention Center correctional officer Martin Revander to the stand to counter Scott’s testimony concerning Young.

“Did you overhear any conversation between these two individuals?” Sorenson asked.

“A slight argument,” Revander said.

“What was said?”

“Terrell Scott called him a snitch and argued with him.”

Scott’s mother, Angela Fields, took the stand and said Scott, his wife and Scott’s child were with her most of that day. He left only once to get a pack of cigarettes, she said.

Fields stated that Scott’s wedding was in 2003, while Scott testified he was married on Dec. 18, 2006 – five days before the shooting. He said he was out house shopping with his new wife.

“Are you sure it was 2003?” Sorenson asked.

“Yes, 2003,” Fields said. “It was Dec. 17th or 18th, I’m not sure.”

Also, Kelly testified Thursday that he was inside the home when the robbery attempt happened. He, Mack, Gilyard and Randolph were smoking marijuana with plans to go to a local nightclub, Kelly said.

While Kelly was on the stand, Walters drew fire from the bench after he asked Kelly if he knew an innocent man had been arrested because Kelly had pointed him out in a lineup.

Sorenson objected because the question wasn’t accurate. Although a warrant was obtained, it wasn’t served on the man pointed out in the lineup.

Circuit Court Judge James C. Williams agreed. When the question was immediately asked again, Williams took exception.

“The next time I sustain an objection, you will abide by the ruling and that applies to everyone else,” the judge said.

Maurice Cheeseboro and Clinton Jones, charged with murder as Scott’s co-defendants, both testified they were there when the robbery occurred.

Both said Scott went inside first to pass himself off as a drug buyer and they were to enter with guns drawn when Scott opened the door.

“When we got back to the car, he (Scott) said, ‘I think I shot somebody,’” Cheeseboro said.

“I think I shot somebody?” Sorenson repeated.

“Yes, sir.”

Co-defense attorney Michael Culler focused on the plea bargain both Cheeseboro and Jones have with the solicitor’s office. For their testimony, both have been offered a recommended sentence of 10 to 30 years if they plead guilty.

A judge can accept or reject the recommended sentences.

Walters continued that thread with a sometimes heated exchange with Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office Lt. James Shumpert, the lead investigator on the case.

“What have you brought before this jury but a bunch of jailbirds singing and singing and singing?” Walters said. “Can you sit here and tell this jury what physical evidence you have to link Mr. Scott to that scene? You have no blood, you have no ...”

“Investigators don’t have a magic wand,” Shumpert replied.

“Aren’t crimes solved by the evidence?”

Closing arguments are expected to begin at 9:30 a.m. today.

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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