High-profile Charleston murder sentencing Thursday

A Charleston County judge is set to sentence Darcellus Fishburne after his guilty plea in the 2020 downtown robbery spree that killed Tom DiLorenzo. (abcnews4.com) As of Wednesday, the hearing had been moved from Thursday, April 23, to Friday at 9 a.m. because Judge Jennifer McCoy was still in a jury trial, according to the Ninth Circuit Solicitor’s Office. Fishburne, now 21, pleaded guilty to murder, armed robbery and attempted armed robbery. (abcnews4.com) Prosecutors say Fishburne was 15 on July 17, 2020, when Tom DiLorenzo, 63, was shot during an attempted armed robbery while walking with his wife, College of Charleston provost Suzanne Austin, near King and Clifford streets. Austin was not injured. (abcnews4.com) Authorities said the shooting came during a short run of robberies after Fishburne and two other teenagers drove from North Charleston to downtown in a stolen vehicle. Prosecutors also tied the group to the armed robbery of a 74-year-old woman about 20 minutes before DiLorenzo was killed. (abcnews4.com) The sentencing closes one part of a case that has stretched nearly six years, from a summer 2020 killing that shook the College of Charleston community to a 2026 guilty plea in circuit court. DiLorenzo’s obituary said he died suddenly in Charleston on July 17, 2020. (abcnews4.com) (postandcourier.com) It also leaves the rest of the prosecution unfinished. ABC News 4 reported that Fishburne’s two codefendants, Travis Wilson and Jaylen Grant, are still charged and their cases remain pending. (abcnews4.com) For anyone planning to follow the hearing, Charleston County’s Clerk of Court lists General Sessions proceedings at the courthouse at 100 Broad Street, and the office says its daybook tracks hearings and trial settings. The clerk’s posted office hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays. (charlestoncounty.org 1) (charlestoncounty.org 2) By Friday morning, the central question in court will no longer be guilt. Judge McCoy will decide Fishburne’s punishment in the killing of a 63-year-old husband and higher-education administrator targeted on a downtown walk nearly six years ago. (abcnews4.com)