2 soldiers ran to help a woman at a SC bar. Now their killer is going to prison, prosecutors say
On July 24, 2016, two soldiers ran toward the sound of gunshots outside of a Lexington County bar in an attempt to defuse a tense situation and rescue a woman.
They were each shot multiple times, dying from their injuries that night.
On Thursday, the man who pulled the trigger and murdered Staff Sgt. Charles Allen Judge Jr., 40, and Sgt. 1st Class Jonathon Michael Prins, 29, was sentenced to decades behind bars.
Joseph Elijah Mills, 27, will spend 40 years in prison, without the possibility of parole, after being sentenced for the murders outside of the Frayed Knot Bar & Grill, according to the 11th Circuit Solicitor's Office.
The Newberry County man pleaded guilty after he agreed to a negotiated sentence, which must be served "day for day" in the S.C. Department of Corrections, the solicitor's office reported.
On the night of the murders, Mills went to the Frayed Knot shortly after midnight looking for his girlfriend, and an altercation ensued after he chased and tackled the woman in front of bar patrons, and hit and kicked her, the solicitor's office said.
A group of about 10 people pulled Mills off, causing him to fall about a foot from a dock area to the ground, where he pulled out a handgun and fired several rounds into the air, according to the solicitor's office.
In a 2016 court appearance, Mills said the woman had run off with drugs, and he felt as if he was being lynched.
The solicitor's office said the crowd scattered after Mills began shooting, allowing him to climb back onto the boardwalk, where he was confronted by Judge and Prins.
The members of the South Carolina Army National Guard and U.S. Army, respectively, had heard the gunshots and ran from their boat anchored at the end of the dock; they approached Mills in an attempt to defuse the situation and disarm him, according to the solicitor's office.
“The first one that approaches him has his hands up in the air, like, ‘Let’s slow down and talk about this,’ ” said Justin Brooks, owner of the Frayed Knot. Then, Brooks said, the second soldier came up. Both soldiers were no more than 2 to 5 feet from the gunman.
The suspect shot them, Brooks told The State after reviewing security camera footage of the shooting.
Prins was shot three times in left side of his torso and neck, and Judge was shot twice in the left torso, according to the Lexington County Coroner's Office.
“He just walked off like he was shopping in an aisle of a grocery store, just nonchalantly takes the time and walks off,” Brooks said of the gunman.
Prins was pronounced dead at the scene, and Judge died during transport to the hospital, according to the solicitor's office.
“Judge and Prins were true heroes who ran toward the gunfire to protect the lives of others, without regard for their own safety," Assistant Solicitor Gill Bell said.
Judge was a sergeant first class in the S.C. Army National Guard and had served in Iraq, according to the solicitor's office, which also said he founded Upstate Stand Down, a nonprofit organization that focuses on helping homeless and at-risk veterans.
Prins was a drill sergeant in the U.S. Army stationed at Fort Jackson at the time of the shooting. During his 10 years with the Army, he served two tours in Afghanistan and one tour in Iraq.
Family members of both victims were present in court for the sentencing hearing.
This story was originally published May 31, 2018 at 10:02 PM with the headline "2 soldiers ran to help a woman at a SC bar. Now their killer is going to prison, prosecutors say."