Across South Carolina

Man gets 30 years for fatally shooting his ex

WINNSBORO --- A man has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for killing his ex-girlfriend as her three children watched nearly five years ago.

Authorities say 39-year-old Sherman DeWalt broke into 32-year-old Davita Roseboro's Fairfield County home in July 2003 and shot her in the head as her children, then 5, 10 and 12, watched.

Mr. DeWalt pleaded guilty Monday to murder and first degree burglary.

A judge said Mr. DeWalt will serve five years of probation after his 30-year-prison sentence, and if he violates parole, he will be sent behind bars for life.

Man gets new trial for gunning down officer

COLUMBIA --- The South Carolina Supreme Court on Monday ruled that a man who gunned down a Myrtle Beach police officer in 2002 should get a new trial because a jury was not allowed to consider a lesser charge.

Jurors who convicted Luzenski Allen Cottrell should have been able to consider voluntary manslaughter because the officer he shot might have been overly aggressive in questioning and restraining him, Justice Costa Pleicones wrote in the 4-1 decision.

Mr. Cottrell, 30, was convicted of murder and sentenced to death for shooting officer Joe McGarry outside a Dunkin' Donuts in December 2002.

Defense attorney Joseph Savitz said his client was elated about the reversal, but it's unlikely Mr. Cottrell will leave prison soon. After he was sent to death row for killing Mr. McGarry, Mr. Cottrell was convicted of killing Jonathan Love in November 2002.

Troubled truck maker files for bankruptcy

CHARLESTON --- Fire engine maker American LaFrance on Monday filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, citing inventory problems and a depressed market for emergency equipment.

In a filing submitted to U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware, the South Carolina-based company said it had problems changing from a unit of Freightliner, which ran the company from 1995 through the end of 2005, to its new owners.

-- Associated Press