MONCKS CORNER, S.C. — A 19-year-old man has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in connection with a 2022 killing that prosecutors described as calculated and brutal.
Jerell Tresean McMillan was convicted April 9 in the murder of Rayvonta Deas, according to the Ninth Circuit Solicitor’s Office. In addition to murder, McMillan was found guilty of desecration of human remains, possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime, assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, and third-degree arson.
A judge imposed the maximum sentence on each charge, including life without parole for the murder conviction. The additional sentences — 20 years for assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, 15 years for arson, 10 years for desecration of human remains and five years for the weapons charge — will run concurrently.
Prosecutors said evidence presented at trial showed McMillan lured Deas to an abandoned lot on Black Tom Road on July 6, 2022, under the pretense of a marijuana transaction. Authorities said McMillan instead planned to rob the victim.
Deas arrived at the location with two teenage girls in his vehicle. During the encounter, prosecutors said McMillan shot Deas in the back of the head three times while two 17-year-old co-defendants acted as lookouts.
A stray bullet also struck one of the girls in the vehicle, hitting her above the eye and in the leg, authorities said. Prosecutors said one co-defendant refused McMillan’s order to kill the witnesses, allowing both girls to flee the scene. They later drove to a hospital, where law enforcement was notified.
After the shooting, prosecutors said McMillan searched the victim’s body for a firearm and kicked him. He and the co-defendants then attempted to conceal the victim’s identity and dispose of the body by trying to remove the victim’s hands, dousing the body with gasoline and setting it on fire.
Managing Assistant Solicitor F. Alexander Myers, who prosecuted the case alongside Assistant Solicitor Kayla Donato, said the sentence ensures McMillan will no longer pose a threat to the public.
“Today the jury spoke clearly,” Myers said in a statement. “Jerell McMillan’s cold, calculated murder of Rayvonta Deas and the desecration of his remains warranted the maximum penalty.”
The case was heard in Berkeley County, where officials said the sentence brings a measure of justice for the victim and the community.
