SPORTS: Staley says Lady Gamecocks’ Final Four appearance won’t be the last B1 LOCAL NEWS
Officials: Beware of jury duty scam A2 TUESDAY, APRIL 7, 2015
| Serving South Carolina since October 15, 1894
75 cents
Another teen dodges murder charge Lee County man, 18, pleads to lesser charge in September shooting death BY MATT BRUCE matthew@theitem.com Three more suspects charged in connection with a Lee County teen’s shooting death last year pleaded guilty Monday afternoon during a hearing inside Sumter County Judicial Center. Sunallah Sadat Liles, 18, was the principle defendant among
the trio, which stood before Circuit Court Judge Knox McMahon. McMahon issued Liles a five-year prison sentence, LILES suspended to four years probation, for his role in the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Dontrell Fortune in September. Liles was original-
ly one of seven teens charged with murder in connection with the killings of Fortune and Shakez Bracey, who were both killed within a 15-hour span. During Monday’s hearing, he pleaded to a lesser charge of accessory after the fact to murder, becoming the fifth defendant in the connected shootings to do so. His murder charge was dismissed.
McMahon accepted Liles guilty plea on the felony count, which carried a maximum prison sentence of 15 years. As part of the negotiated deal, prosecutors beckoned the judge to issue Liles an 18month prison term, suspended to two years of probation. McMahon opted to tack on more time to the probationary sentence, citing Liles’ involvement
RC plane enthusiasts show off skills
in the shooting. Fortune was shot dead in his SUV in the Green Acres community on Bishopville’s outskirts. Kalvon Goodman, who pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in connection with the shooting March 26 in Lee County, was identified as the triggerman in the deadly
SEE SHOOTING, PAGE A7
FESTIVAL ON THE AVENUE
Event celebrates area community Entertainment begins Thursday with Living History Museum BY IVY MOORE ivy@theitem.com
KEITH GEDAMKE / THE SUMTER ITEM
Ashley Meier takes pictures as David Moses performs acrobatics with his plane, left, during the Larks RC Club’s fly-in Saturday afternoon in Dalzell. The event was a fundraiser to help SCOA Cares (South Carolina Oncology Associates), which uses the money for cancer research, and Rembert Area Community Coalition. Check out more photos from the fly-in on page A3.
Nearly a decade has passed since the first Festival on the Avenue, and it’s grown in performances and number of attendees every year, according to Patty Wilson, a founder and committee chairwoman. “This year will be our best ever,” Wilson said. The festival began with a mission to change the image of the South Main Street (Britton) bridge from that of barrier to connector, literally “bridging the gap” between South Sumter and the rest of the city. So popular has the festival become through the years that performers and organizations from the area and even out of state are clamoring to participate. “We’ve got people coming from as far away as Texas and Washington (D.C.),” Wilson said. Most of the performers are local, she said, and while most of the associated events happen on Saturday, the Festival on the Avenue actually starts at 7 p.m. this Thursday with the Living History Museum. The event at the Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church Life Enrichment Center on Fulton Street features young adult and senior actors as significant figures from history, several of them local icons. Friday brings the highly anticipated Taste of Soul on the Avenue; from 6 to 9 p.m. at South Sumter Farmers Market, attendees can enjoy soul food cooked by local home cooks and food truck operators. “Look for everything from fish to fried chicken, ribs, chicken pot pie, jelly cake and sticky pot,” Wilson said. “One vendor is coming down from North Carolina with a wide variety. Our Youth Build students will prepare the desserts. “We’ve also got a surprise band that will play during the Taste,” Wilson said. “They’re very good, and they play everything from oldies to jazz and hip-hop.” Saturday brings six hours of festival events and entertainment, beginning at 10 a.m. with the parade. When it ends on Manning Avenue, the opening ceremony will be held across from Marion H. Newton Family Life Center. Several dignitaries will offer greetings, and Rep. David Weeks, D-Sumter, will introduce the grand marshal, Leola Whitaker.
SEE FESTIVAL, PAGE A7
Sailor: I survived by staying inside, rationing CHARLOTTE (AP) — The man rescued from a disabled sailboat off the North Carolina coast responded to critics of his story Monday, explaining that he avoided sunburn and blisters by staying in the vessel’s cabin and that he survived by rationing food and water. Louis Jordan’s three-para-
VISIT US ONLINE AT
the
.com
graph statement says he stayed inside the cabin to keep dry and avoid sun, wind, waves and sea spray. “Every time I went outside, I exposed myself to getting my clothes drenched, which would have made it harder for me to keep warm,” Jordan said. “My blankets were already soaked,
and often there was no way of hanging up my clothes to dry. Keeping dry was vital to my survival.” Jordan also says he set up a makeshift mast with a small sail to get the boat headed in a westward direction. He says he rationed food and water and kept his calorie
DEATHS, B4 Irene H. Earles William Dukes Jr. Sudie J. Nichols Cedrick D. Baldwin Eugene Wilson Sr. Robert E. Baird
Thomas D. Watt Sr. Inez W. Jones John W. Creel Henry Kind Elizabeth Durant
expenditure low. “That meant I had to stay inside the boat as much as possible, therefore I didn’t have a sunburn, or blisters, as if I were found clinging to an upsidedown boat,” Jordan said. Jordan was spotted by a German-flagged boat Thursday, more than two months after
sailing out of a South Carolina marina. Coast Guard crew members who retrieved him said they were surprised by his fit appearance and health. Officials with the U.S. Coast Guard say it wasn’t clear how long after he left the marina in Conway, South Carolina, that his boat first capsized.
WEATHER, A10
INSIDE
A FEW SHOWERS
2 SECTIONS, 16 PAGES VOL. 120, NO. 146
Mostly cloudy today with a little rain; partly cloudy and warm tonight HIGH 82, LOW 63
Classifieds B6 Comics B5 Lotteries A10
Opinion A8 Television A9