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Inset left: Charles Allen (Florence County Detention Center). Inset right: Quarius Dunham (Obituary). Background: The road near where Allen shot and killed Dunham in Florence, S.C. (Google Maps).
A South Carolina man has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the tragic killing of an 8-year-old boy who was on vacation in the state.
On Thursday, Charles Montgomery Allen, age 40, entered a guilty plea to one count of murder and five counts of attempted murder, as confirmed by court documents from Florence County that were examined by Law&Crime.
General Sessions Court Judge Steven DeBerry IV handed down the life sentence to Allen for the fatal shooting of young Quarius Dunham. In addition, Allen received a 30-year sentence for each of the attempted murder charges.
The harrowing events unfolded on May 28, 2022, along Long Old River Road in Florence County, approximately 90 miles east of Columbia.
According to authorities, Allen was at his residence on the day of the incident, indiscriminately firing a rifle and a shotgun at passing vehicles.
“No motive. Just probably methed up. He”s got a history,” Florence County Sheriff TJ Joye told Florence-based CBS affiliate WBTW at the time. “He’s incarcerated now without incident. Just a senseless, senseless act.”
At the time, Quarius was visiting from out of state with his family, who hail from Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
The little boy was riding with his family in a car that passed by Allen’s house when he was shot and killed. A woman in the same car was also shot but survived, law enforcement told WBTW.
The fatal bullet struck Quarius in the neck. He was rushed to a nearby hospital but was later taken off life support.
Allen fired at two other vehicles, authorities said. The child’s father was driving one of those vehicles and was also shot but survived.
Quarius was a third grade student at Little Harbour School when he died. The school district issued a statement after the shooting.
“It is with the heaviest of hearts that I share the sad news that one of our third grade students at LHS was killed this weekend,” Portsmouth Superintendent of Schools Steve Zadravec said. “His family was on vacation and were victims of a random shooting in South Carolina. An event like this touches our community as a whole. Our hearts are with the family as we support each other through this unbelievable tragedy.”
SWAT team members arrested Allen after he returned home. He was found with a large cache of weapons, authorities said.
“It’s sad. It’s heartbreaking,” the sheriff added. “We’ve got an 8-year-old shot for no reason. No reason.”
The defendant was originally also charged with several other crimes, including possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime and multiple counts of discharging a firearm into a vehicle. Those lesser charges were dropped this week, court records show.
During his sentencing hearing, the condemned man’s attorney said his client accepted what he had done and, upon learning about the child’s death, hung his head in shame, according to a courtroom report by Florence-based ABC/CW affiliate WPDE.
Allen, for his part, also apologized.
A relative of the defendant also spoke up to directly address the victim’s family and said, “The only thing I can offer are my prayers.”