In the late hours of a September night in 1992, a routine traffic stop on Dave Lyle Boulevard in Rock Hill, South Carolina, turned deadly for 23-year-old York County Sheriff's Deputy James Brent McCants. A United States Army veteran, McCants had been with the sheriff's office for only two months, having previously served with the Rock Hill Police Department for about a year and a half.
Unbeknownst to him, the two men in the vehicle he pulled over had carjacked and stolen the car just two hours earlier in Charlotte, North Carolina.
During the stop, Deputy McCants was shot and killed. The two occupants of the vehicle, identified as Dwayne Eric Forney and Mar-Reece Hughes, immediately fled the scene and abandoned the stolen car nearby. A massive manhunt involving more than 100 police officers from various agencies throughout York County ensued, leading to the swift capture of both suspects within hours of the incident.
Both Forney and Hughes were subsequently convicted of the murder of Deputy McCants. After a trial in 1994, Forney was sentenced to life in prison. Hughes, identified as the shooter, was convicted and sentenced to death in 1995 and remains on death row. Each of the suspects had blamed the other for the shooting following a crime spree that included an armed robbery in Charlotte just before the fatal traffic stop. Forney, who had the murder weapon in his possession when he was apprehended, became eligible for parole in 2022 under the law in place at the time of his sentencing, but his request was denied. In honor of the fallen deputy, a portion of Dave Lyle Boulevard near Interstate 77 has been renamed the Deputy James Brent McCants Memorial Boulevard.
