Upstate Gang Members Convicted in Shootings

The attempted murders of rival gang members in a 2011 retaliatory attack has netted two Simpsonville men 20 years in prison, Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Solicitor W. Walter Wilkins said Monday.

A county jury convicted the pair Saturday along with two fellow gang members from Greenville for a mass shooting attack that occurred at a Lil' Cricket gas station on White Horse Road in July 2011.

Esaiveus Booker, 21, and Michael Antonio Williams, 22, both of Simpsonville, were each convicted on seven counts of attempted murder, and a charge each of second-degree assault and battery by mob. Williams also was convicted on a separate conspiracy charge, Wilkins said.

Both men were sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Their accomplices, Raymond Lewis Young II, 28, and Kinjta Sadler, 19, both of Greenville, also were convicted on seven counts of attempted murder. Young, who was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment, also was charged with conspiracy and one count of assault and battery by mob. Sadler received a 20-year sentence.

Under sentencing terms, Booker, Williams, and Sadler won't be eligible for parole for 17 years. Young would be eligible for parole in 25.5 years.

According to evidence presented by assistant solicitor Katryna Salisbury, the defendants and several others got into an altercation on July 17, 2011 at the Red Planet nightclub on Cedar Lane Road in Greenville. 

After a shooting at the club, the defendants plotted retaliation against the victims, whom they believed to be involved in the shooting, Salisbury said.

Sometime later, the victims, who were parked at a Lil' Cricket gas station on White Horse Road were ambushed and sprayed by gunfire from the defendants. The attackers included the four convicted defendants and four accomplices, some of whom have already pled guilty and testified at the defendants' trial. 

According to Salisbury, the defendants parked behind the gas station before covering their faces and approaching the victims on foot. The convicted defendants and two others were armed with handguns and opened fire on the victims, "striking gas pumps, vehicles at the gas, and seven of the victims," Wilkins said.