SC Appeals Court panel overturns Lexington teen’s Cook Out murder conviction

A three-judge panel of the S.C. Court of Appeals has overturned the high-profile murder conviction and 30-year prison sentence of Kierin Dennis, a recent Lexington High School graduate who fatally stabbed a student from rival Dutch Fork High School following a 2014 basketball game.

Dennis, who was tried twice and convicted of murder at the second trial in 2019, claimed in his appeal that under the state’s “Stand Your Ground Act,” he had a right to a pretrial hearing for his second trial on whether he should be granted immunity in the killing of Da’Von Capers, 17, in the parking lot of a Lexington Cook Out restaurant.

But Dennis, who was 18 at the time of the stabbing, was denied that hearing, and the Court of Appeals judges’ panel ruled that denial was sufficient to reverse the conviction.

In its order that Dennis be granted a new immunity hearing, the Court of Appeals panel said that if he wins that hearing, his conviction will be set aside.

If he loses, Dennis is entitled to appeal that denial of immunity and other issues in the 2019 trial, the Court of Appeals panel wrote.

Dennis had an immunity hearing before his 2016 first trial, which ended in a hung jury, but he had been denied another immunity hearing before his second trial.

“It is well-settled in South Carolina law that once there is a mistrial in a case, you should start all over. And he was not allowed to start all over,” said Rep. Todd Rutherford, D-Richland, who represented Dennis at both trials. “The Court of Appeals got it right; it was a solid ruling.”

An S.C. Attorney General’s office spokesman said, “We are currently reviewing the case to determine what, if any, additional action will be taken on the appeal level.”

Dennis, now 29, is currently incarcerated at the Evans Correctional Institution in the S.C. Department of Corrections and is scheduled to be released in 2049. He has no disciplinary infractions on his record. Evans is a medium-security facility in Marlboro County.

The stabbing occurred in the parking lot of a Cook Out restaurant after a high school basketball game while Dennis was in his vehicle and a mob of shouting students from Dutch Fork surrounded his vehicle. There was no question that Dennis stabbed Capers to death; the jury had to decide whether Dennis acted in self-defense. Evidence in the case indicated that Capers reached into Dennis’ driver’s side window when he was stabbed with a knife in the chest.

The killing of Capers and Dennis’ two trials attracted statewide attention because they showed how a high school sports rivalry can turn deadly. The violence also underscored the need for a police presence at outside gatherings of teens from rival high schools. When Dennis killed Capers, there were no police nearby.

State Judge Eugene “Bubba” Griffith sentenced Dennis to 30 years in state prison. A murder conviction carries a mandatory 30-year minimum sentence in South Carolina.

The “Stand Your Ground Law” was enacted by the S.C. General Assembly in 2006 to provide that a person “is immune from criminal prosecution and civil action for the use of deadly force” in various limited circumstances.

The panel judges were Paula Thomas, Aphrodite Konduros and John Geathers. Their ruling was unanimous.

This story was originally published August 14, 2024 at 2:38 PM.