Man found guilty of murdering Lowcountry teenager in 2021

BEAUFORT COUNTY, S.C. (WTOC) - After around ten hours of deliberation, a Beaufort jury has found Ty Leic Chaneyfield guilty on all charges related to the shooting death of Bluffton teenager DJ Fields.

The judge presiding over the case sentenced Chaneyfield to life in prison for murder.

“We the jury unanimously find the defendant, Ty Leic Dae Jhon Chaneyfield, guilty of the murder of Dwon DJ Fields.”

At that moment, family and friends of Fields broke into tears.

The jury also found Chaneyfield guilty on all other charges. After the verdict, came sentencing. Fields’ parents stood before Judge R. Ferrell Cothran Jr. and pleaded he consider the kind of young man DJ was. A scholar ready for college, a football star and a friend to those around him.

“This was our only kid, that did everything the right way,” Dwon Fields Sr. said.

Throughout the case, the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office told the story of how Chaneyfield and the others accused in this case were looking to shoot their enemies, but misidentified the car Fields was in, killing him and injuring his friends.

Judge Cothran sentenced Chaneyfield to life in prison for the murder, as well as decades of prison time for other charges. The Solicitor’s Office pushed for this sentence, showing that Chaneyfield also joined a fight while in jail.

“These people went out hunting, they went out hunting for somebody, got the wrong person. Ty Leic Chaneyfield, this wasn’t even his fight. He joined this for fun,” Duffie Stone said.

Officials from the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office say this case isn’t over as there are still three people who need to be prosecuted.

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