In November of 2018, the life of 31-year-old Chester Alphonso Stavis, known to his friends as 'Rock,' was tragically cut short in Sumter, South Carolina. His family had reported him missing on November 19, 2018, after he had not been heard from since leaving his home on Albert Spears Drive four days prior. The search for Stavis came to a grim conclusion on November 21, the day before Thanksgiving, when his body was discovered face down in a shallow waterway near Dicks and Rast streets.
An autopsy would later confirm that he had died from a gunshot wound to the chest, and his death was officially ruled a homicide.
The investigation into the death of the male victim initially led police to identify a person of interest, but it was tips from the public that ultimately broke the case open. In early February 2019, the Sumter Police Department announced a series of arrests. Two men, 21-year-old Parrish Raquan Pollard of Rembert and 34-year-old Madison Jared Scriven of Gable, were taken into custody. They faced a string of serious charges, including murder, armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, and kidnapping. Pollard was also charged with possession of a weapon during a violent crime. The motive, according to law enforcement, appeared to be a robbery that had taken a fatal turn.
A third individual, 17-year-old Mary Green of Sumter, was also arrested in connection with the crime. While not believed to have been the one to pull the trigger, she was charged with accessory after the fact to murder and conspiracy, accused of playing a role in the plan to rob Stavis. Following the arrests, a judge set Green's bond at $10,000, while Pollard and Scriven were held at the Sumter-Lee Regional Detention Center to await circuit court proceedings.
