Dog dispute led to 2019 Rock Hill fatal shooting. But it wasn’t murder, officials say
A Rock Hill man has been sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to a 2019 fatal shooting following an argument over a dog, officials said.
However, the facts in the case, including a video, showed that the shooting death was not a murder as had been originally charged, lawyers in the case said.
Montrece Shajuan Kennedy, 27, was sentenced to 18 months in prison after he pleaded guilty Monday to involuntary manslaughter in York County criminal court in the death of Robert Lee Dockery Jr., court records show. Visiting Judge Brian Gibbons also sentenced Kennedy to three years probation.
Involuntary manslaughter is defined under South Carolina law as, ”the reckless disregard of the safety of others,” and carries a sentence of zero to five years in prison.
A murder charge against Kennedy, which could have carried 30 years up to life in prison, was dropped as part of a plea agreement between prosecutors and Kennedy, according to lawyers in the case.
Dockery 39, was found dead on Calhoun Street around 9 p.m. on Dec. 27, 2019, prosecutors said. The area is in the Boyd Hill neighborhood near the intersection of Main Street and Cherry Road.
Kennedy was charged with murder in early January 2021 after he turned himself in to Rock Hill Police Department detectives.
Evidence, including a video, showed Dockery threatened Kennedy with a knife, according to prosecutors and Kennedy’s lawyer.
Kennedy had taken Dockery’s deaf dog out of a car, which caused Dockery to get upset, said Willy Thompson, 16th Circuit Deputy Solicitor, after court Monday. Dockery threatened Kennedy with the knife, Thompson said.
Kennedy showed a gun after being threatened, which caused Dockery to run. Kennedy shot Dockery, Thompson said.
The case was not self-defense at the time the shot was fired because the knife threat from Dockery was over when the shooting happened, Thompson said.
Kennedy’s lawyer, Geoff Dunn, said after court there is no dispute from the video that Dockery threatened Kennedy with the knife.
The sides agreed to a plea of involuntary manslaughter.
This story was originally published April 7, 2021 at 11:13 AM with the headline "Dog dispute led to 2019 Rock Hill fatal shooting. But it wasn’t murder, officials say."
