RIDGELAND, S.C. (Aug. 15, 2024) – A Hampton County man who threw an acquaintance out of the vehicle in which they were travelling, then robbed and shot him to death on the roadside has been sent to prison.
A Jasper County General Sessions jury on Wednesday found Javeris Tremane Williams guilty of the September 2018 murder of 17-year-old Samquan “Chuck” Frazier. Williams, 33, also was convicted of armed robbery and possession of a weapon during commission of a violent crime. He was sentenced to life in prison.
“Javeris Williams has displayed utter disregard for life and for the law,” said Assistant Solicitor Trasi Campbell, who prosecuted the case. “His criminal history demonstrates this. His robbery and murder of Chuck Frazier demonstrates this. His flight from responsibility demonstrates this. Fortunately, he will be behind bars for a long, long time.”
The Jasper County Sheriff’s Office was called to Pineland Road on Sept. 30, 2018, after reports that a pedestrian might have been struck by a car along that roadway. When deputies arrived, they found Frazier lying on the side of the road wearing only his underwear. However, he had not been struck by vehicle. Rather, he had a single gunshot that entered in his lower chest and exited his back.
Frazier was still conscious and told one of the responding officers that he was shot and robbed by someone named “Hustle Man.” The statement was captured on the officer’s body-worn camera, but Frazier was able to provide little additional information. He died enroute to the hospital.
Officers recognized “Hustle Man” as Willams’ street name, which was confirmed by a Williams family member. Further investigation connected Williams to a Facebook account under the name “Hustle Mane,” an apparent derivation of his middle name, Tremane. Among the account’s content was a video, posted the night of the shooting, that showed Frazier and Williams in a car together.
Through interviews with Frazier’s relatives and acquaintances, investigators learned that earlier in the night, the defendant and victim were at a party where Frazier won a substantial amount of money shooting dice. Many at the party later went to a nightclub, and in the early morning hours, Frazier rode home from the club with Williams and another man.
The third man in the car with Frazier and Williams testified he was sleeping in the car when he was awakened by a gunshot. He saw Frazier and Williams outside the vehicle, and as he opened a backseat door and asked what they were doing, Williams demanded he get back in the car. As the third man shut the car door, he heard a second gunshot. Williams then got back in the car and sped away, leaving Frazier behind.
Campbell called 13 witnesses during three days of testimony at the Jasper County Courthouse.
Circuit Court Judge Carmen Mullen handed down the sentence.
Campbell is a member of the Solicitor’s Office Career Criminal Unit, which prosecutes the circuit’s most violent and habitual offenders. The team has earned convictions against 495 of the 540 defendants it has prosecuted since its formation in late 2009.
William was well-known to law enforcement because of his prior criminal history, which included convictions for assault and battery, possession with intent to distribute cocaine, driving under the influence and possession of a controlled substance. In the aftermath of Frazier’s killing, Williams fled but was apprehended eight days later by the U.S. Marshals Service in a Columbia motel.
