Pizza driver killed near where another was robbed
By Nita Birmingham
The Post and Courier
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
SUMMERVILLE — A Domino's pizza driver was robbed five months ago while making a delivery to a vacant house next door to where another delivery driver was killed Saturday night.
"We're looking at it. It has some similarities," Dorchester County sheriff's Capt. Tom Marshall said of the Jan. 31 armed robbery and the weekend killing of driver Wilson James during an attempted robbery. James worked for Pizza Hut.
Both drivers were sent to bogus deliveries. The 38-year-old female driver made a delivery to 110 Beatrice Lane, which was vacant at the time. James made a delivery to 108 Beatrice Lane, whose occupants didn't order food and had nothing to do with the shooting, deputies said.
The female driver told deputies she pulled up to the house at 10:05 p.m. and was robbed by two men, one armed with a knife and one with a gun. She said one man encouraged her to approach the porch. The second suspect came from across the street.
One man stayed with the driver on the porch while the other went to her car and took her purse and the pizza chain's money, a report said. A neighbor told deputies he saw two men walking up and down the street about 15 minutes before the robbery.
Deputies don't know how many people approached James at 10:20 p.m. Saturday as he got out of his car, but it appears nothing was stolen from him, Marshall said. The next-door neighbors said they heard a gunshot and noticed a car with its headlights on in the driveway....
2 teens charged with murder
By Nita Birmingham
The Post and Courier
Thursday, June 7, 2007
SUMMERVILLE — Two neighborhood teens were arrested Wednesday on charges that they killed a Pizza Hut driver Saturday during what officials say was an attempted armed robbery.
Delronezy Washington, 18, and Deshawn A. Brown, 16, live in the Greenhurst neighborhood where driver Wilson James was killed, Dorchester County sheriff's 1st Sgt. Mike Miller said.
The juveniles were arrested late Wednesday afternoon and charged with murder. Washington is being held in the Dorchester County Jail. Although Brown will be charged as an adult, he must be held at the Department of Juvenile Justice in Columbia because of his age. The two are expected to have a bond hearing today before a magistrate, but the procedure is largely a formality because only a circuit judge can set bail on a murder charge.
A gun was found during the investigation, but detectives did not provide any other details about the case.
James, 54, was shot once Saturday night when he attempted to make a delivery at 108 Beatrice Lane. The pizza order was fake and he was shot when he got out of his station wagon, although it appears nothing was stolen, detectives said.
The residents of the Beatrice Lane address were unaware of what was happening on the front lawn until after they heard a gunshot, deputies said.
James, who has two children in college, was working three jobs. He delivered pizzas five days a week in the evenings, delivered The Post and Courier in the morning and ran a vending machine business during the day.
State Law Enforcement Division records show that Washington is on probation for second-degree burglary.
The Charleston County Sheriff's Office arrested Washington in July 2006 after jewelry, a video game system and a DVD player were stolen from a neighbor's house, according to a report. Washington was living in Ladson at the time.
Washington was convicted in February and given a suspended sentence upon service of two years of probation, SLED records show. He's been on probation for four months.
Washington's family and the home phone number he gave when arrested in 2006 are now listed on Bailey Drive in Summerville.
The street is in the Greenhurst neighborhood, behind Beatrice Lane....
