A tearful Bowman man pleaded guilty to felony DUI in a collision that took the life of one of his peers.
Kadeem Shanire Neals, 24, of 860 http://www.newjersey1861.com/phil-mcconkey-jersey-c-1_45.html Rail St., admitted his guilt on Thursday afternoon before Circuit Judge Ed Dickson.
Dickson will sentence Neals at a later date pending a presentence investigation.
Prosecutors are recommending that Neals serve 10 years in the death of Nigel Dominique Willis, 22, of Bowman, on Nov. 23, 2016.
Assistant Solicitor Josh Edwards said the incident occurred when Neals was driving away from Bowman to Branchville at nearly 100 mph. He struck Willis, who was riding a skateboard.
After striking Willis, Neals’ vehicle flipped and ended up upside down in a field, Edwards said.
Medics took Neals to the hospital and blood work showed he had .14 blood alcohol content.
There were no other drugs in his system, Edwards said.
Willis’ mother and another family member were in the courtroom but didn’t address the court.
“I apologize to the victim. I knew her son. I was a friend to him,” Neals told the court.
“I never in a million years thought that there would be anyone in the curve right there,” he said.
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Breen Stevens, Neals’ public defender, told the court, “These types of cases are tragic all the way around.”
Prior to the fatal crash, Neals was employed http://www.officialpiratessale.com/dave-parker-jersey-c-1_5.html at Key West Boats, where he’d been working for one year and five months.
But prior to that, Neals served time in prison.
On Oct. 22, 2013, he pleaded guilty to violent second-degree burglary.
He was sentenced to 10 years.
He told the court that he served time and got out of prison in February 2015.
In September 2011, Neals and two other Bowman men were charged with four counts of attempted murder relating to a shooting that took place in the Cattle Creek Road area south of S.C. Highway 210.
An Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office investigator came upon a group of men talking, but when the investigator pulled up, at least one of the three men allegedly began firing at the officer and others.
The three men fled into the woods, but Neals surrendered nearly immediately.
Neals later pleaded guilty to unlawful Johnny Cueto Womens Jersey carrying of a pistol and his four charges of attempted murder were dropped.
A date for Neals’ sentencing hearing has not yet been set.