In the late morning of August 12, 2018, the life of 32-year-old Terrence Lamont 'Breeze' Williams was tragically cut short in his apartment in Rock Hill, South Carolina. A former football standout for Rock Hill High School, where he was part of the 2002 state championship team, Williams was discovered by police with multiple gunshot wounds inside his residence at the Oaks at Little Dutchman Creek apartment complex on Celanese Road.
The daytime shooting shocked the community and marked the third homicide in Rock Hill that year.
The investigation quickly pointed to an acquaintance of Williams, Dewight Sheldon Baird, then 36 years old. Authorities indicated the shooting was not a random act of violence. Following the incident, Baird fled the scene, abandoning a vehicle at a nearby gas station. A manhunt ensued, and with the assistance of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, Baird was apprehended in Charlotte, North Carolina. At the time of the murder, Baird was a fugitive from Connecticut, where he had a criminal record that included convictions for drug and weapon charges.
Baird was subsequently charged with murder and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence. During his initial court appearance, the emotional testimony of Williams's mother, who pleaded for 'no mercy,' led the judge to clear the courtroom for safety. A detective stated in court that Baird had 'emptied his handgun' to ensure Williams was dead. Ten days before his murder trial was set to begin, Dewight Sheldon Baird pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter. In a deal with prosecutors, he was sentenced to 15 years in a South Carolina prison for the killing of Terrence Williams.
