A Leesville man already serving a life sentence for one 2023 murder has now been convicted of a second, after admitting he shot and killed a 30-year-old man during an armed robbery near Tabernacle Baptist Church. Allon T. Adams, 25, entered a guilty plea on July 17 to the murder of Devon Tricoche, closing the book on a case that stretched across two counties and more than two years of investigation.
The Eleventh Circuit Solicitor's Office announced that Adams was convicted of Tricoche's murder, according to Cola Daily. Adams shot Tricoche multiple times during a planned armed robbery on November 28, 2023, then placed his body in the water at a boat landing on New Holland Road. An autopsy later confirmed Tricoche sustained 12 gunshot wounds in the attack, according to WestMetroNews.
Investigators say Adams and a co-defendant stole Tricoche's personal belongings and the Kia Soul he was driving during the robbery, per the same account. Adams left the scene after dumping the body in the water, and the case remained unsolved for months until it became entangled with a second, related homicide just over a month later.
A Missing Persons Case Turns Into a Double Murder Investigation
That second victim was 35-year-old Tony Etheredge Jr., who was reported missing after his family lost contact with him and found his truck abandoned near Truex Road in Leesville. As reported by WLTX, what began as a missing person search turned into a homicide investigation once Etheredge's body was recovered from Black Creek, near Pelion, in February 2024.
According to arrest warrants detailed by the Lexington County Chronicle, Etheredge was lured to Parrish Road during the early morning hours of December 30, 2023, where Adams shot and killed him in order to steal his 2014 Toyota Tacoma. Adams and the co-defendant then disposed of Etheredge's body by throwing it over a bridge into Black Creek, and the truck was later found abandoned in an open field on Truex Road.
Investigators say DNA evidence recovered from a towel and hoodie found near the truck helped link Adams to the crime scene. Digital evidence from Adams's cell phones also revealed multiple admissions to the murders of both Tricoche and Etheredge, according to Cola Daily's reporting.
A Fast Jury Verdict and a Guilty Plea
Adams was first convicted of Etheredge's murder on November 21, 2025, after a Lexington County jury deliberated for less than an hour, according to WLTX. Circuit Judge Walton J. McLeod IV imposed a mandatory life sentence on charges of murder, armed robbery, criminal conspiracy, and weapons possession. Under South Carolina Code § 16-3-20, a murder conviction in the state carries a mandatory sentence of death or a minimum of 30 years to life, with no possibility of parole, early release, or sentence-reducing credit, per Justia Law.
With his July 17 guilty plea to Tricoche's murder, Adams received a 30-year concurrent sentence, meaning he will remain in prison for life regardless of the second conviction. Eleventh Circuit Solicitor Rick Hubbard, who prosecuted both cases alongside Deputy Solicitor Suzanne Mayes, said Adams is held fully accountable for the violence he inflicted. “Allon Adams will never again be able to harm another person in the community,” Hubbard said, adding that the resolution reinforces the commitment to public safety and brings a measure of justice to the families of Tony Etheredge Jr. and Devon Tricoche.
Charges Against Two Others Remain Pending
The investigation, led by Detective John Reed of the Lexington County Sheriff's Department Major Crimes Unit, also implicated two other people. Cady Elise Keener, 19, of Lexington was arrested alongside Adams in February 2024 and charged with two counts of murder, armed robbery, criminal conspiracy, possession of a weapon during a violent crime, and desecration of human remains, according to the Lexington County Sheriff's Department. Investigators determined Etheredge was initially lured to Rish Road by Keener before being directed to the isolated stretch of Parrish Road where he was shot.
The desecration of human remains charges against Adams and Keener stemmed from evidence that both victims' bodies were relocated after the shootings — Tricoche moved to a boat landing in Aiken County and Etheredge moved from Parrish Road into Black Creek — according to WSB Radio. In October 2025, deputies arrested a third suspect, 23-year-old Roosevelt Erik Garway Jr., charging him with accessory before the fact of murder and criminal conspiracy for allegedly assisting Adams and Keener in the fatal shooting of Etheredge. It remains unclear when Keener and Garway will face trial for their alleged roles in the killings.
