WALTERBORO, SC (March 27, 2026) – A 50‑year‑old Round O man who shot and killed a Round O man and then turned the gun on a nearby woman is headed to prison following a jury trial in Colleton County.
Keith Devon Simmons, of Chisolm Road, was found guilty Thursday in connection with the Feb. 5, 2021, fatal shooting of 43‑year‑old Ronald Carnell Dobson. Simmons was also convicted of possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime. He was sentenced to 45 years in prison.
“He threatened to kill them both,” said Assistant Solicitor Tameaka A. Legette of the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office, who prosecuted the case. “He wasn’t lying.”
Testimony presented during the trial revealed that an argument broke out shortly after Dobson arrived at Simmons’ Chisolm Road residence in the Round O community of Colleton County. While Dobson was seated in a chair, Simmons opened fire, striking him multiple times. Simmons then turned the gun on the woman and fired again, narrowly missing her.
Evidence showed that Simmons attempted to hide his actions by removing spent shell casings from the home and disposing of the firearm before Colleton County Sheriff’s deputies arrived. He refused to call 911 for assistance — even as Dobson lay dying on the floor, begging for help.
“The defendant allowed the victim to bleed to death,” Legette said.
Legette called 17 witnesses during the three-day General Sessions Court trial.
Simmons’s criminal history includes prior convictions for possession with intent to distribute cocaine and simple possession of marijuana (1995); resisting arrest (2001); and driving under suspension and possession of meth cocaine base (2005).
Circuit Court Judge Perry Gravely imposed Thursday’s sentence.
Investigator Denise Pinckney of the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office, Sgt. Billy Ballard of the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office and Lt. Todd Schenk of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division’s Crime Scene Unit assisted in the case.
Legette is a prosecutor with the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Career Criminal Unit, which handles the circuit’s most chronic and violent offenders. Since its creation in late 2009, the unit has secured convictions against 544 of the 597 defendants it has prosecuted.
