SC man murdered 5 people in minutes, handed multiple life sentences after plea
In a matter of minutes, a South Carolina man shot and killed five men as some slept in a Spartanburg home in 2022. He will now spend the rest of his natural life in prison, according to the 7th Circuit Solicitor’s Office.
To circumvent a death sentence if convicted, James Douglas Drayton, 28, pleaded guilty Friday to five counts of murder and five counts of possession of a weapon during a violent crime, according to a news release. As a result, he was sentenced to five consecutive life sentences by Circuit Court Judge Perry Gravely.
Drayton’s plea follows an incident on Oct. 9, 2022, where Drayton killed five men inside an Inman home as some were asleep or unaware, according to the release. The victims included James Derrick Baldwin, Roman Christean Megeal Rocha, Adam Daniel Morley, Mark Allan Hewitt, and Thomas Wayne Ellis Anderson, the release said.
Following the shootings, Drayton stole Morley’s car before traveling to Georgia and committing armed robbery, according to the release. He was apprehended by law enforcement officers in Burke County, Ga. and later extradited to South Carolina in 2024 after an extremely lengthy process, the release said.
Family members of the victims supported the plea deal and told Gravely that “no one deserves to die that way,” in reference to their loved ones, according to the release.
As a condition of his plea deal, Drayton is ineligible for parole and is barred from appealing the conviction or from seeking any type of post-conviction relief, the release said.
Family of the victims endorsed the consecutive life sentences, and said that Drayton will “never get out and never see daylight again” as they will never be able to see their loved ones again.
A history of violence
Drayton’s conviction follows a history of violence, including in Lexington County.
In 2019, Drayton pleaded guilty to second-degree assault and battery and third-degree burglary after breaking into a Lexington County church — Red Bank United Methodist Church — and assaulting an employee who walked in on the burglary.
He was sentenced to five years following the offense.
