BEAUFORT, SC (January 28, 2019) – A 20-year-old man and one of his two co-defendants entered guilty pleas Monday just as an attempted murder trial was to begin.
Dalante Marquise Fripp pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted murder, two counts of attempted armed robbery and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime. Jury selection was to begin at the Beaufort County Courthouse when Fripp and 22-year-old Darielle Brianna Harris of Ridgeland instead entered guilty pleas.
A third defendant, 20-year-old Jamahn Mykai Callaway of Beaufort, pleaded guilty Jan. 19.
The trio tried to rob two men at John Parker Park on Aug. 4, 2016. One of the men was shot in the chest and taken to the hospital.
“This could have easily ended very differently,” said Dustin Whetsel of the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office, who prosecuted the case. “This defendant opened fire on these people and could have killed either or both of them.”
Circuit Court Judge Maite Murphy gave Fripp a 25-year sentence but suspended it to 16 years in prison and five years’ probation. Harris pleaded guilty to criminal conspiracy and was sentenced under the Youthful Offender Act to a term of no more than five years.
Callaway pleaded guilty Jan. 19 to two counts of attempted murder, two counts of attempted armed robbery and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime. He is to be sentenced at a later date.
Whetsel is a member of the community prosecution team. He has been with the Solicitor’s Office since 2015.
