SPARTANBURG COUNTY, SC (WSPA) – A man was sentenced to life in prison for the deadly shooting of a Woodruff man back in 2016.
According to a solicitor’s office news release, Adriel N. Garnett, 32, was found guilty of murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime on Thursday following a four-day trial.
Garnett shot and killed Cecil Gilliam, 40, on Feb. 6, 2016.
Woodruff Police found Gilliam around 4 a.m. at a home on Sharpe Street after receiving a call about a disturbance with a weapon.
Gilliam later died as a result of seven gunshot wounds.
According to the release, a witness identified Garnett as the shooter, and he and another person were seen leaving the area in a gray Camaro.
Garnett was later arrested in Columbia five and a half months after the shooting.
According to the release, police officers in Columbia made contact with Garnett during a call about a disorderly conduct, and he gave them an incorrect name and resisted arrest.
Garnett testified during his trial and told the jury that the shooting was an act of self-defense.
Prosecutors in the case said that the number of bullets fired, as well as the location of the Gilliam’s fatal wounds, was proof that the shooting wasn’t in self-defense.
Garnett was sentenced to life in prison and is not eligible for parole.
His prior criminal history includes several drug offenses, as well as convictions for assault on a police officer while resisting arrest, false information to police and criminal domestic violence.
