Eric Lamont Owens received a 35-year prison sentence Wednesday for shooting a man to death.
Eric Lamont Owens, 35, was found guilty of murder and possession of a weapon during the commission a violent crime.
Owens shot 31-year-old Stanley Earl Jones to death on Nov. 12, 2013 in the front yard of the victim’s mother’s home on Baltimore Street. Trial testimony revealed the fatal shooting was payback for an altercation the previous day between the two men.
One of the witnesses, Derrick Leigh White, 30, testified he drove Owens to and from the scene of the shooting. White testified he thought the men were going to fight.
Jones died as a result of injuries sustained from a 12-gauge shotgun blast fired from a passing car.
“A simple disagreement escalated into murder,” assistant solicitor Abel Gray said. “Eric Owens could have walked away from the conflict but he made a conscious decision to seek revenge.”
Spartanburg police arrested Owens in March of 2014. In a post-arrest police interview, Owens denied being the shooter.
Owens was one of four people charged in connection to the homicide on the city’s west side. White pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact of murder on Monday. Charges are pending on two others.
Owens will serve every day of Circuit Judge Roger Couch’s prison sentence. He is not eligible for parole or early release. His prior criminal record included conviction for armed robbery, assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, grand larceny and unlawful carrying of a weapon.
Assistant Solicitor Chris Bain teamed with Gray to prosecute the case.