A Lexington County man became the second person convicted on a murder charge stemming from a shooting where a South Carolina man died in his front yard, the 11th Circuit Solicitor’s Office said.

Following a five-day trial in January, 22-year-old Daniel Taylor Jones was found guilty of murder and was sentenced to 40 years in prison, without parole, the solicitor’s office said in a news release.

Now both Jones and Christopher David Shumpert have been convicted of murdering Barry Joe Chavis, Jr., according to the release. Shumpert, a 23-year-old Lexington resident, was convicted in March 2023.

On March 27, 2020, Jones and Shumpert confronted the 28-year-old Chavis at his home at 3630 Fish Hatchery Road, the solicitor’s office said. That’s in the Gaston area of Lexington County.

Jones and Shumpert, who were teenagers at the time, argued with Chavis about a small amount of money, according to the solicitor’s office. Information about the amount of money was not available.

After a brief altercation, Jones and Shumpert both fired guns at an unarmed Chavis, according to the release.

Twenty-one shots were fired toward Chavis by Jones, who was armed with a .300 Blackout rifle, and Shumpert, who was armed with a 9mm handgun, the solicitor’s office said. Two shots hit Chavis in the back and he was killed instantly in his front yard, according to the release.

Jones and Shumpert shot another person twice, once in the leg and once in the stomach, the solicitor’s office said. The surviving victim was taken to an area hospital for treatment and discharged days later, according to the release.

Chavis, who was survived by his parents among other family members, was remembered as a very hard worker, a certified engine mechanic who loved to work on dirt bikes and four wheelers, according to his obituary.

Witnesses said Chavis was involved in “a long-running disagreement,” with Shumpert, according to a previous statement from Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon.

Several witnesses at the scene identified Jones and Shumpert as the shooters and law enforcement began a search, according to the release. Jones was apprehended in Lexington County on the night of the shooting while the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division tracking team took Shumpert into custody early the next morning at a hotel in Aiken County, the solicitor’s office said.

Both weapons used in the shooting were recovered at places associated with Jones, according to the release.

Jones, who testified in his own defense during the trial, said he was firing his weapon at the ground and was shooting in self-defense, but evidence and testimony showed the shooting was neither an accident nor an act of self-defense, the solicitor’s office said.

In addition to murder, Jones was convicted on assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature as well as possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime charges, according to the release. He was sentenced to 20 and 5 years in prison on those charges, respectively, and those sentences will run concurrently with the murder conviction, the solicitor’s office said.

Both Jones and Shumpert were charged similarly and Shumpert was also convicted by a Lexington County jury and sentenced to 40 years in prison, according to the release.

“This is another case of how our young people are killing each other,” Judge Debra McCaslin said. “It just has to stop.”

The case was investigated by the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department, SLED and the Aiken County Sheriff’s Office, while Deputy Solicitor Rhonda Patterson and Assistant Solicitor Bradley Pogue led the prosecution. Columbia attorney Aimee Jendrzejewski Zmroczek represented Jones, Lexington County court records show.