Sentence delayed for teen convicted of store owner’s murder

SUMTER, S.C. (AP) – Sentencing for a teen found guilty in the killing of a store owner in South Carolina has been delayed because of new requirements for young people convicted of murder.

Sincere Dinkins faces 30 years to life in prison for killing Vijaykumar Patel during a November 2017 robbery at Sumter’s Save-Mart Grocery.

A law passed after a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling requires a judge to hold a hearing considering the suspect’s age and maturity, the circumstances of the crime, his family and home environment and the possibility of rehabilitation for anyone 17 or under convicted as an adult. Dinkins was 17 in 2017.

The Sumter Item reports Larenzo Hagood, now 21, took a voluntary manslaughter plea deal, agreed to testify against Dinkins and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.