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New ‘Pixels’ movie fails to sustain laughter A4 SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2015
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Guilty of manslaughter Andrews gets 30 years for lesser charge, weapons violation BY COLLYN TAYLOR intern@theitem.com After three days of testimony and three hours of deliberation, a jury found James Andrews guilty of voluntary manslaughter and possession of
13 shell casings found
a weapon during a violent crime Friday in connection with the March 2014 death of Shamarr Howell. Judge W. Jeffrey Young sentenced him to 30 years in prison. Andrews was on trial for fatally shooting Howell, reportedly because Andrews thought Howell stole a bottle of brandy. The defense didn’t dispute whether Andrews killed Howell, but that Howell threatened Andrews and Andrews acted in self-defense. The jury adjourned sometime before noon and took almost three hours
of deliberation to find him guilty of manslaughter and not guilty of murder. Manslaughter is the absence of malice in a killing, while to prove murder, there must be ANDREWS malice. They were debating whether to find him guilty of murder, and according to the jury foreman, James Glass, it was a split decision at first. The jury was unanimous at the end,
opting for the lesser sentence of manslaughter. Glass said the jury went that direction because it was a “heat of passion” crime, and they didn’t think he planned it. He said the jury didn’t believe the defense’s argument for self-defense, saying the argument did not meet all the criteria. “We’re not lawyers,” Glass said. “That’s how the 12 of us interpreted (the law).”
SEE ANDREWS, PAGE A6
Checking out The Root Doctors
No warning as drifter who had violent past opened fire at movie LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) — A man who lost his family, home and businesses as he spent years angrily espousing rightwing extremism on television, the Internet and to anyone else who would listen, did not say a word as he opened fire on strangers in a darkened movie theater, authorities said Friday. John Russell Houser, 59, stood up about 20 minutes into Thursday night’s showing of “Trainwreck” and fired on the audience, killing two people and wounding nine with a semi-automatic handgun. Houser then tried to escape by blending into the fleeing crowd after one of his victims
SEE SHOOTING, PAGE A6
KEITH GEDAMKE / THE SUMTER ITEM
Kelly and Bob Kraetsch dance to the music of The Root Doctors during 4th Fridays on Main Street. The summer concert series will continue through September.
Central Carolina training center nears completion
BY COLLYN TAYLOR intern@theitem.com
BY JIM HILLEY jim@theitem.com Though an official grand opening probably won’t be until October, training activity is already taking place at Central Carolina Technical College’s Advanced Manufacturing Technology Training Center on Broad Street, President Tim Hardee said Friday. “We already have people coming in and interviewing, undergoing assessment and testing,” he said near the facility’s computer room where whiteboards were already scribbled with instruction for students. “We want this to be a one-stop shop from interview to job offer,” he said. Hardee said the build-
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JIM HILLEY / THE SUMTER ITEM
Central Carolina Technical College President Tim Hardee stands next to training equipment located in the nearly completed Advanced Manufacturing Technology Training Center in the former Walmart building on Broad Street. ing will house two different operations. In the east end of the building are training rooms for Continental Tire the
Americas, already in use by the tire company, while the west side of
SEE CENTER, PAGE A7
In an age where social media is expanding rapidly, local law enforcement is embracing it and riding the digital wave. According to Facebook’s website, the digital sharing website boasts 161 million daily users from the United States and Canada while Twitter shows 69 million monthly users in the U.S. Social media is expanding rapidly with 58 percent of Americans over the age of 18 on Facebook and 19 percent on Twitter, and local law enforcement is embracing the use of social media in its operations. Both Sumter County Sheriff’s Office and Sumter Police Department have Facebook pages. The sheriff’s office has 3,235 likes compared to the police department’s 5,457. The police department also has a Twitter account showing 1,063 followers. While the sheriff’s office does
DEATHS, A7 Sallie Bracy Carmen J. Bouyea James I. Watford Vera Bradham
Bernard W. McCaffrey Evelyn Lamb Sylvester R. Miott Octavia W. Amos
not have an official Twitter, Sheriff Anthony Dennis’ account has 189 followers. Sheriff’s office Public Information Officer Braden Bunch said the office uses social media extensively. Bunch said Twitter is used heavily in different missing persons and runaway cases where information can be posted to social media sites and receive instant feedback. He called it another “arrow in the quiver” for law enforcement, referencing a case of an elderly woman who wandered away from a nursing home in mid-June. The missing person alert was posted to Facebook, and within minutes the sheriff’s office was receiving tips and leads on her whereabouts. The post, as of Thursday, has been shared 218 times. Sumter Police Department has also been ramping up its social media presence lately. Police department Public Information
SEE LAW, PAGE A7
WEATHER, A8
INSIDE
THE SUN IS BACK
3 SECTIONS, 22 PAGES VOL. 120, NO. 237
Sunshine and some clouds today; clear to partly cloudy tonight. HIGH 92, LOW 68
Classifieds B7 Comics B6
Lotteries A8 Television B5