Bryan M. Holder, 21, was found guilty of two counts of first-degree assault and battery, assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a violent crime.
Bryan M. Holder, 21, was found guilty of two counts of first-degree assault and battery, assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, possession of a firearm during the commission of a violent crime. He pled guilty to grand larceny and malicious injury to personal property before the start of the trial.
“Crimes like this can’t be tolerated in our community and I’m glad to see the defendant punished accordingly,” Solicitor Barry Barnette said.
On July 2, 2012, Holder used a stolen 30.06 rifle to shoot Bonnie Raines. The victim sustained a life-threatening injury when she was struck in her back about 1:30 a.m.
Raines told investigators she was shot moments after she left the Raceway store on Asheville Highway, finished a telephone conversation and sat in the passenger seat of her boyfriend’s car. The boyfriend and a person pressure washing the pavement at a nearby business were almost hit.
All of the witnesses to the shooting told deputies the gunfire sounded like fireworks exploding.
During their investigation, deputies learned Holder and his co-defendant, Tyler Schomer 18, of Spartanburg, initially fired a 30.06 rifle from a nearby field. Holder stole several guns, jewelry, cash, laptops and other electronic items from a Bethesda Road home days before the shooting.
Holder testified during the trial and he tried to blame his co-defendant for the gunfire.
Under cross-examination by Barnette, Holder admitted to loading the weapon and wanting to shoot it. He also testified that he shot the rifle 12-13 times. The investigators found 13 shell casings at the crime scene.
Barnette and Assistant Solicitor Prina Tailor utilized ballistic evidence and eyewitness testimony to further develop their case to show that all 13 shell casings were fired by the 30.06 rifle stolen by Holder along with the bullet that hit Raines and was recovered in the center console of the boyfriend’s vehicle.
Schomer pled guilty to multiple charges before the trial and he is detained in the county jail awaiting sentencing.
Holder’s prior criminal record included convictions for breaking and entering an auto and underage possession of alcohol.