Beaufort men sentenced to decade in prison for 2021 armed robbery after violent carjacking
Two Beaufort men were convicted of a cluster of felony charges after exploiting an act of kindness for a “quick score” in April 2021. The duo drew guns and robbed the two victims — including one defendant’s cousin — after the couple offered them a ride.
Gerell Nathaniel Daise, 23, and Jonas Jerry Washington Jr., 25, pleaded guilty just before their jury trial was set to begin Tuesday afternoon at the Beaufort County Courthouse. Both men were sentenced to 10 years in prison by S.C. Circuit Court Judge Kristi Curtis.
On the evening of April 22, 2021, a couple was driving with their young child in the backseat when the woman spotted Daise, her cousin, walking with Washington alongside the road. They offered the men a ride. Arriving at the woman’s home in Burton, she took the child inside while the three men stayed in the car.
That’s when Daise and Washington drew guns on the driver, demanding he let them into the house. The man obliged, unlocking the front door for Washington, who “rifled through” the couple’s belongings before speeding away in the couple’s car, now being driven by Daise.
Beaufort County patrol officers pursued the vehicle, prompting Daise to jump out of the car and run. Washington took the wheel but wrecked shortly after, also fleeing from police on foot.
Deputies found Daise hiding in a neighbor’s house in Beaufort later that night, according to the Tuesday afternoon release from the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office. Washington was arrested six days after the attempted robbery.
Washington and Daise were convicted of one count each of kidnapping, larceny, second-degree burglary, armed robbery and possession of a weapon during a violent crime.
“[Daise and Washington] thought they could make a quick score,” wrote Mary Jones of the solicitor’s office, who prosecuted the case Tuesday. “They did not care if that meant stealing from a relative or threatening people at gunpoint with a child present.”
At the time of their arrests, Daise was out on bond for another charge and was wearing an ankle monitor as a term of his release. The tracking data for the device, authorities said, confirmed his presence at the crime scene and fleeing from law enforcement.
Washington’s 10-year prison sentence will run concurrently with a five-year sentence out of Georgia, stemming from his guilty plea late last year to 2020 first-degree burglary charges in Effingham County.
The 2021 armed robbery appeared to be Daise’s first violent offense, court records show. Since 2017, he has pleaded guilty to three separate counts of fleeing from police.
