A Greenville man has been sentenced to 27 years in the South Carolina Department of Corrections after pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter and conspiracy in a gang-related shooting that killed one person and injured three others during a 2021 cookout at Conestee Park. Kimron Keantea Lilly, 26, was sentenced on September 22.
According to FOX Carolina News, the shooting happened around 10 p.m. on July 16, 2021, at Conestee Park off Mauldin Road in Greenville. The cookout was hosted by the Bloods gang to celebrate Bloods Hood Day, an occasion that commemorates the organization's founding, the station reports.
During the gathering, a black sedan came through the parking lot, and a person wearing a blue hat leaned out of the vehicle with a rifle and opened fire into the pavilion area, per the same account. The shooting injured three people and killed a fourth, who died at the scene from a gunshot wound to the head, the station notes.
Evidence Ties Lilly to Rival Gang Conspiracy
Evidence presented at Lilly's plea hearing, attributed to the 13th Circuit Solicitor's Office, indicated that he conspired with other members of the Rolling 20s to carry out the shooting. The Rolling 20s are described in the report as a sect of the national Crips gang — meaning the violence stemmed from a conflict between rival gangs at what was billed as a celebratory neighborhood gathering.
Part of a Broader Pattern of Gang Sentencing in South Carolina
Lilly's case adds to a string of gang-related prosecutions across the Upstate and the broader state in recent years. In one comparable case, three Upstate prison gang members were sentenced in a RICO prosecution, with one defendant, Akridge, receiving 30 years for conspiracy and involvement in a murder tied to members of the IGD, according to Audacy / 989 WORD.
Other South Carolina gang cases have drawn lengthy sentences as well. A Florence man, Antonio Devon Williamson, was sentenced in federal court to five years for conspiring to murder a trial witness, as reported by CBS 17, while WPDE reported the same sentence as 60 months in prison plus three years of supervised release. In a separate case out of the Charlotte area, a woman accused of aiding in the shooting death of a Lake Wylie couple was sentenced to 13 years in prison, according to WCCB Charlotte.
