A New York man will spend the rest of his life in a South Carolina prison after a Jasper County jury on Thursday convicted him in a brutal daytime double killing at a Hardeeville apartment complex last summer.
Charles Saunders, 50, was found guilty in the June 18, 2024, shootings of Alesia Dykes and Bernard Alexander Lyles at the Walsh Drive Apartments in Hardeeville. Children were inside the apartment when the gunfire broke out. The verdict came at the end of a three-day trial earlier in the week.
According to a press release from the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office, jurors returned guilty verdicts on two counts of murder and two counts of possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime. Circuit Court Judge Carmen T. Mullen imposed life sentences after prosecutors called 19 witnesses over three days of testimony.
What Happened at Walsh Drive Apartments
Hardeeville police say officers rushed to the Walsh Drive complex shortly after noon on June 18, 2024, after multiple reports of gunfire. Witnesses told investigators an argument between Saunders and the victims started outside an apartment and turned physical. They said Saunders followed Dykes and Lyles into the doorway and then opened fire…