Man pleads guilty to murder of Bluffton teen DJ Fields, sentenced to 40 years in prison
A Hardeeville man pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including murder, on Monday in the March 2021 shooting that killed Bluffton High School student and star football player Dwon “DJ” Fields.
Jimmie Green, 21, pleaded guilty to murder, two counts of attempted murder and three counts of assault and battery by mob — first, second and third degree.
Circuit Judge Craig Brown sentenced Green to 40 years in prison on the murder charge, set to run concurrently with his five lesser sentences. He will receive credit for 790 days previously served.
Green also was charged with possession of a weapon during a violent crime, which was not considered Monday. He has been in custody at the Beaufort County Detention Center since his arrest in March 2021.
Fields’ parents, Dwon Fields and Keema Bryant, delivered tearful words to the courtroom Monday morning, urging Brown to bring justice for their late son.
“I have hurt for the past two years, and I will continue to hurt for the rest of my life, because that was my only kid,” Dwon Fields said.
In a vigil for the 17-year-old held in Bluffton High School’s football stadium immediately after his death, friends and family remembered DJ Fields as a “gentle giant,” a “good friend” and a “great teammate.”
‘It was not supposed to be like that’
Green is one of four people charged in Fields’ death and the first in the group to stand trial.
Also accused of shooting at Fields’ car is Ty Leic Chaneyfield, 20, of Ridgeland. Green and Chaneyfield both were charged with two counts of attempted murder, murder and possession of a weapon in a violent crime.
Siblings Jayden Void, 21, of Bluffton, and Shayniah Void, 20, of Orangeburg, both were charged with first-, second- and third-degree assault and battery by mob.
All four suspects were denied bond Aug. 25.
On March 5, 2021, the Void siblings met Chaneyfield and Green at Station 300 bowling alley in Bluffton because Shayniah Void allegedly wanted to buy marijuana from Green, said 14th Circuit Solicitor Duffie Stone, who was prosecutor on Monday.
Green allegedly told the siblings he was looking for “the ops,” meaning “opposition,” Stone said. Green was looking for a man suspected of shooting at his house.
After leaving Station 300, the Voids went to Wendy’s on S.C. 170 and spotted a car they believed belonged to “the ops.” The siblings’ car was seen on the restaurant’s video surveillance.
The Voids allegedly called Green and Chaneyfield. But they called attention to the wrong car.
The targeted vehicle, parked at Wendy’s, was being driven by Fields. Fields had two passengers in the car, 18-year-old Kylan Simmons and 16-year-old Edwin “EJ” Graham, who bore a strong resemblance to the person Green was looking for, Stone said.
Driving behind and past the students’ car, Green and Chaneyfield fired “no less than 17 times” at the boys, Stone said.
Simmons and Graham were injured in the incident, though Simmons was not shot. Graham, who was shot multiple times in the head, survived by the “grace of God,” according to Stone.
Fields was pronounced dead at the scene. He was 18.
“It was not supposed to be like that,” Bryant told The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette.
Fields, who was a defensive lineman for Bluffton High School’s football team, was two months from graduating at the time of his death. He had made his college commitment to Greenville Technical College just one day before the shooting.
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