Man who hit another with car & shot him in head goes to prison, SC official says
A deadly attack outside a South Carolina courthouse where a child custody hearing was held has landed a man in prison for decades, according to the 8th Circuit Solicitor’s Office.
On Monday, Stephen Andrew White pleaded guilty to murder and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime, the same day a trial was scheduled to begin, the solicitor’s office said Tuesday in a news release.
Judge Frank Addy Jr., sentenced White to 40 years in a South Carolina Department of Corrections prison, according to the release. White was sentenced to 35 years on the murder charge and also given a consecutive 5-year sentence on the weapons charge, the solicitor’s office said.
The Laurens County Coroner’s Office said 34-year-old Woodruff resident Erin Lee Thomas was the victim. Thomas was killed in the brutal incident outside the Laurens County Courthouse in 2024, according to the release.
On Aug. 12, 2024, there was a child custody hearing where both White and Thomas were present, the solicitor’s office said. After parting from his attorney in the courthouse parking lot, White got in his vehicle and intentionally smashed into Thomas, who was standing beside his own vehicle some distance away, according to the release.
Thomas suffered severe injuries in the crash, including a broken leg and pelvis, the solcitor’s office said. But that wasn’t the end of the attack.
White then got out of his vehicle with a gun and stood over Thomas who was disabled on the pavement, according to the release. After the first round misfired and jammed, White chambered another round and shot Thomas in the head, the solicitor’s office said.
Thomas was airlifted from the courthouse and later died, the Laurens County Sheriff’s Office said.
After the shooting, White discarded the gun and surrendered to law enforcement officers who quickly responded, securing both the scene and inside the courthouse, officials said.
No other injuries were reported.
“This was a calculated and deeply personal act of violence that unfolded in a place where families are supposed to find peaceful resolution to disputes — not further heartache and tragedy,” Solicitor David Stumbo said in the release. “Stephen White chose to maliciously take a life in the place that many of us come to work to serve the public every day and in the process took two father figures — the victim and himself — out of the life of an innocent child permanently.”
The sheriff’s office led the investigation.
The case was prosecuted by Stumbo, Deputy Solicitor Jared Simmons and Assistant Solicitor Mary-Madison Driggers. White’s attorney was 8th Circuit Public Defender Chelsea McNeill.
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