RIDGELAND, SC (May 17, 2017) – A former convict and triggerman in a Jasper County murder-for-hire scheme was convicted Wednesday of shooting and killing Terrance Johnson in 2014.
A jury took less than 45 minutes to find 37-year-old Rohaime “Killa” Hopkins guilty of murder following a three-day trial at the Jasper County Courthouse in Ridgeland. Hopkins was sentenced to life in prison.
At about 9 p.m. on Nov. 13, 2014, Johnson, 32, was shot five times while in a vehicle on Knowles Island Road, according to Career Criminal Team prosecutor and Assistant Solicitor Mary Jones.
Jones told the jury that Hopkins was hired by a well-known area drug dealer to shoot and kill Johnson because Johnson had “snitched” and owed the man money.
“The defendant coerced the victim to a rural area of the county, and when he got the victim alone, the defendant shot him five times while sitting in a car,” Jones said.
Hopkins has been in and out of prison since 1996 on charges that include assault and battery with intent to kill and federal weapons violations.
“Rohaime Hopkins is an extremely dangerous man who deserves to spend the rest of his life behind bars,” Jones said. “There is no doubt that Jasper County is a safer place with this man off the streets.”
Circuit Court Judge Perry Buckner handed down the sentence.
