In the early morning hours of July 23, 2021, a gathering fueled by drugs took a tragic turn, ending the life of 29-year-old Deonne McLendon of Burton, South Carolina. McLendon, described by family as a 'bag of joy' and a jokester who cherished making his family happy, was with his cousin, Delmar Sanders, and a woman named Rhonda Randall. The trio was reportedly using cocaine and decided to drive to an ATM to get money for more drugs.
During the drive in Sanders' red Dodge Durango SUV,
both McLendon and Randall grew concerned about Sanders' erratic and dangerous driving and voiced their complaints. Sanders, who later claimed to be paranoid from the drugs and believed his companions intended to harm him, pulled the vehicle over near the intersection of Stanley Farm Road and Laurel Bay Road under the pretense of letting McLendon drive. However, as McLendon walked around the car, Sanders shot him twice in the abdomen. He then turned the gun on Randall, who was in the backseat, and shot her in the arm before driving away.
Despite being gravely wounded, McLendon managed to run about 100 yards from the scene before collapsing. Before succumbing to his injuries on the way to Beaufort Memorial Hospital, he was able to tell a Beaufort County Sheriff's deputy that Delmar Sanders had shot him. Randall survived the attack and was treated for her injuries and later released.
Following an investigation where he provided multiple contradictory accounts of the night's events, Delmar Sanders, 29 at the time, turned himself in to authorities in Camden County, Georgia. He was charged with murder, attempted murder, and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime. In August 2022, a Beaufort County General Sessions jury found Sanders, then 30, guilty of voluntary manslaughter and the weapons charge. He was subsequently sentenced to a total of 35 years in prison.
