RIDGELAND, S.C. (May 19, 2025) – A 38-year-old Jasper County man who shot himself in the head during a thwarted burglary attempt is headed to prison for that crime, as well as for injuring two people during a party in an unrelated incident three years earlier.
Jacque Rennia Pierce Jr., pleaded guilty Friday to attempted murder and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime for his involvement in a May 15, 2021, shooting outside a Crabapple Lane home in greater Ridgeland. Pierce also pleaded guilty to first-degree burglary for his involvement in a separate incident in Varnville in February 2024, when he armed himself and entered two homes on Hickory Hill Road.
He was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
“This defendant has a long history of violence and has terrorized people across county lines and across jurisdictions,” said James Sharpe of the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office, who prosecuted the case. “Communities in both Jasper and Hampton counties are safer with him behind bars.”
Ten days after the shooting in which two men were shot multiple times but survived, officers pulled over a vehicle in which Pierce was a passenger. He was arrested and charged in connection to the Crabapple Lane shooting. While out on bond, Pierce was arrested a second time for breaking into at least two Hampton County homes while carrying an AR-15. While in the second home, Pierce struggled with one of the home’s occupants. With his hand on the trigger, Pierce shot himself in the head. He has since recovered from his injury.
Pierce’s criminal record includes convictions for first-degree criminal domestic violence (2005); possession of cocaine base (2016); second-degree domestic violence (2018); and simple possession of marijuana (2019).
Sharpe is an assistant solicitor and primarily prosecutes cases in Jasper County. He has been with the Solicitor’s Office since 2023.
