Deputies: Allendale man sentenced for Labor Day homicide

SALUDA COUNTY, S.C. (WOLO) – A Allendale man has been sentenced for the 2016 Labor Day homicide after intentionally driving his car in a crowd of people at the Circe K in Ridge Spring in Saluda and killing a man.

Lamar Maurice Shannon, 34, was sentenced to 18 years without parole for the homicide of Schanen Samuels, 34.

Shannon plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter.

On the Labor Day incident, Samuels and his family went to the Circle K where a friend Shannon engaged in a verbal altercation with on of Samuels’ family members.

Samuels reportedly was trying to stop the altercation.

Multiple witnesses reported that Shannon backs up his compact SUV on the side of the Circle K just prior to accelerating into the crowd at an extreme high rate of speed.

Shannon struck one other individual priors to striking Samuels. Samuels’ body ended up in the roadway over 15 feet away.

Several witnesses report that Shannon then turns up the road and comes back intentionally running over the body again.

Shannon’s friend then jumps into the car and they fled the scene.

Several witness were able to describe Shannon as the driver of the vehicle and Samuels was pronounced dead on the scene.

A volunteer fireman who witnessed some of the incident pursued Shannon. He and his sons were able to set up a perimeter around the woods where Shannon and his friend were hiding until law enforcement arrived.

Multiple law enforcement agencies assisted and the bloodhounds were able to successfully locate Shannon and his friend hiding in the woods.

The vehicle was abandoned near the woods and later processed by South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) Crime Scene agents. Samuels’ blood and hair were recovered from the undercarriage of the trunk area of the vehicle and DNA analysis confirmed that the blood and hair belonged to Samuels.

An autopsy conducted by Dr. Janice Ross in Newberry determined that Samuels sustained multiple blunt force injuries to include a fractured skull with lacerated brain, fractured ribs, fractured pelvis, and multiple abrasions, contusions, and lacerations about his body.