More than six years after three men were shot to death in Goose Creek, Robert Anthony Mayes II has pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and robbery, closing one chapter of a case that first stalled out in a hung jury last year. Circuit Judge Dale Van Slambrook sentenced Mayes, who was 16 years old when he was implicated in the killings, to 20 years in prison on Oct. 16.
A Case That Took Six Years to Resolve
Mayes pleaded guilty to one count of voluntary manslaughter and one count of robbery, according to the Post and Courier. As part of the sentencing, Van Slambrook credited him with 1,968 days already served — time that stretches back years before the case ever reached a plea deal. The guilty plea came more than six years after the triple homicide itself, which unfolded on the evening of July 3, 2020.
The resolution follows a failed first attempt at trial. Mayes stood trial in Berkeley County Circuit Court in February 2025, but jurors could not reach a unanimous verdict, and the judge declared a mistrial. Prosecutors at the time said a retrial was expected, per the same outlet's earlier reporting on the case.
Three Men Killed, Two Suspects Charged
The victims were identified as Jose Luis Torrez-Padilla, 39; Acaio Carro, 45; and Salvador Dominguez, 32, all fatally shot July 3, 2020. Mayes and a co-defendant, Jabaari Ferguson, were initially charged with three counts of murder along with multiple robbery and weapons charges, stemming from what the news organization's prior reporting described as an alleged conspiracy to rob Hispanic victims believed to have guns or bank accounts.
Accounts of the shooting's precise location have varied in coverage of the case. One report places the killings at Sunrise Mobile Home Park on Red Bank Road in Goose Creek, while an earlier account described deputies responding to a disturbance on Oakside Drive off Red Bank Road, where they found several people shot inside a residence.
Co-Defendant's Case Still Pending
Ferguson's case remains pending, the news organization reported, even as Mayes's plea brings a resolution to one side of the prosecution. During the earlier mistrial proceedings, the prosecution's case relied in part on testimony from Ferguson himself, who was facing similar charges in his own case but testified for the state, according to Live 5 News.
With Mayes's plea now entered and his sentence handed down, attention turns to whether Ferguson's case will reach trial or a similar resolution. For now, the record shows only that his charges remain open, more than six years after the shooting left three men dead in Goose Creek.
