Trial opens Monday in Dutch Fork High student knife slaying

A trial is set to begin Monday afternoon in Lexington in the case of a deadly encounter in which a Dutch Fork High School student was fatally stabbed in a fast-food eatery parking lot after a 2014 basketball game.

Kierin Dennis, then a recent 18-year-old graduate of Lexington High School, is on trial for murder in the death of Da’Von Capers, a 17-year-old Dutch Fork High senior. The two schools are rivals and had just played.

Dennis and Capers, who did not know each other, were thrown together by chance in the parking lot of the Cook-Out restaurant in Lexington on Feb. 17, 2014. It was a volatile situation, and youthful passions were running high.

“My client is looking forward to his day in court,” said Dennis’ attorney, Todd Rutherford, a Richland County state representative.

At the time, Capers was a honor roll student, played football for the Dutch Fork Silver Foxes and was liked and respected by classmates. On a social media site, Capers described himself as “just a young dude living life” and added “small city big dreams.” Three days before his death, he had posted, “Blessed to see another day.”

The killing caused Lexington police to beef up security at places where students might congregate after high school games.

The night of the fight, Dutch Fork High had come from behind to win by five on Lexington’s home court. Even before the stabbing, tensions were running high between the two schools, and a Lexington High student had displayed a sign during the game that said, “Thug Fork.” After the game, police made fans from the two schools leave by separate doors.

Although dozens of students from the rival schools began to congregate at the Cook-Out that night, no police were on the scene.

In previous statements to police and during court hearings in the matter, Dennis has admitted to stabbing Capers with a commando-style knife, but said he acted in self-defense and in fear of his life as Capers stood at the driver’s-side window of the SUV that Dennis was in, alone, that night.

In a November 2014 hearing in the case, Dennis and some supporting witnesses testified that as he was driving through the parking lot, attempting to get to a street exit, some Dutch Fork teens began to harass him.

One of the Dutch Fork teens was Capers, they said. Dennis testified that Capers tried to reach through the SUV’s window; that’s when Dennis made a quick stab at Capers, piercing him in the heart and liver with a combat knife.

As Capers fell dying to the ground before his shocked friends, Dennis drove off, not knowing – he testified – that he had delivered a fatal blow.

Some 20 teens witnessed all or part of the encounter. Most are now in college or working but are expected to be called to testify during the trial.

In earlier pretrial action, Dennis’ lawyer tried get the case dismissed by having a circuit court judge declare that Dennis was entitled to a “stand your ground” defense. That would have meant he was immune from any criminal charges because he had the right to defend himself in a place where he was entitled to be – his SUV.

But in February 2015, state circuit Judge Thomas Russo ruled that Dennis was not entitled to any immunity from a “stand your ground” claim.

However, Rutherford said then that he would attempt to argue that defense to the jury as part of a broader defense.

“Stand your ground depends on perception, and Kierin Dennis obviously perceived a threat,” Rutherford said in 2015.

Dennis is charged with one count of murder and one count of possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime.

Dennis’ claims of being in fear for his life because Capers was supposedly trying to enter his SUV are “not credible,” Russo wrote in a 10-page legal opinion filed in the Lexington County clerk of court’s office.

The trial could last up to a week. State Circuit Judge Eugene Griffith of Newberry is presiding. Prosecutors in the case are Shawn Graham and Rhonda Patterson.

This story was originally published October 2, 2016 at 6:21 PM with the headline "Trial opens Monday in Dutch Fork High student knife slaying."