BEAUFORT, S.C. (April 23, 2025) – A 25-year-old Burton man who shot his stepfather to death before fleeing to Mexico has been sent to prison.
Daniel Adame-Guatemala entered an “Alford plea” Wednesday in Beaufort County General Sessions Court to a charge of voluntary manslaughter in the 2022 shooting death of 29-year-old Christian Hernandez. Adame-Guatemala also pleaded to possession of a weapon during commission of a violent crime. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
“The violent death of a loved one must be terribly excruciating – and doubly so when that death is at the hand of a family member,” said Deputy Solicitor Mary Jones of the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office, who prosecuted the case. “It is not clear why the defendant in this case acted in such a violent manner. However, such violence makes it clear he belongs in prison.”
An Alford plea carries the same weight as a guilty plea. However, it allows Adame-Guatemala to maintain his innocence but admit that the prosecution’s evidence would likely result in a guilty verdict if brought to trial.
Adame-Guatemala, whose criminal history includes convictions for public disorderly conduct and second-degree domestic violence, was living with his mother and stepfather at the Godwin Mobile Home Park on Joe Frazier Road in Burton after his release from prison.
He lived there several months without incident, until Feb. 24, 2022. That evening, the defendant emerged without warning from a bathroom and began firing a 9mm handgun at his stepfather as he ate dinner with Adame-Guatemala’s mother. She tried to stop her son, but Adame-Guatemala continued firing around her.
Hernandez died at the scene of multiple gunshot wounds.
Adame-Guatemala took the keys to a family pickup truck and fled, eventually escaping to Mexico, where he has several relatives. He then made his way to South America. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers captured him trying to cross the border in Hildago, Texas in June 2023. Adame-Guatemala waived extradition to South Carolina.
He was originally charged with murder by the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.
“The family cooperated with investigators and supported Adame-Guatemala’s prosecution,” Jones said. “However, they did not relish the prospect of testifying against him. Because the defendant also took responsibility for his crime by pleading to voluntary manslaughter, we agreed this was an appropriate resolution and merciful for his family.”
Circuit Court Judge Martha M. Rivers handed down the sentence.
Jones is a member of the Career Criminal Unit, which prosecutes the circuit’s most violent and habitual offenders. That team has earned convictions against 512 of 564 defendants it has prosecuted since its inception in 2009.
