LAURENS COUNTY, SC - A man in his thirties ran over his wife's lover with his car and shot him dead in a courthouse parking lot after he "snapped" when he found out that the daughter he was raising was not his biological child.
Stephen "Andrew" White, 34, pleaded guilty to murder and possession of a firearm during a crime in the death of 34-year-old Erin Lee Thomas outside the Laurens County Courthouse, Law & Crime reported. On Monday, April 20, a judge sentenced White to 40 years in prison.
The incident occurred on August 12, 2024, following a hearing involving White's wife and a child she shared with Thomas. Prosecutors said nothing out of the ordinary occurred during the hearing, such as a heated argument. After it ended, White, his wife and Thomas went their separate ways.
White then got into his car and ran down Thomas, who was standing in the parking lot, breaking his leg. White then grabbed a gun out of the diaper bag and tried to shoot Thomas as he lay on the ground, but the gun jammed. White cleared the jam and shot Thomas to death before surrendering to police.
White's attorney, Chelsea B. McNeill, told the judge that "something inside him snapped" when he learned that he was not the biological father of his wife's child.
"One of the worst things that can happen to a father … other than to find out that your child is deceased is to find out that the child you thought was your own was actually not your own," McNeill said. "Andrew's wife had an affair with Erin prior to them getting married. She came clean about that affair and he chose to forgive her. What he didn't know is she had resumed that relationship with Erin and became pregnant with Erin's child."
However, prosecutors noted that White learned about the child's paternity roughly a year before the fatal shooting. They also said the victim was immobilized after he was hit by the car and unable to escape because of a broken leg when White shot him dead.
"This was a calculated and deeply personal act of violence that unfolded in a place where families are supposed to find peaceful resolution to disputes — not further heartache and tragedy," 8th Circuit Solicitor David M. Stumbo said in a statement.
"Stephen White chose to maliciously take a life in the place that many of us come to work to serve the public every day and in the process took two father figures — the victim and himself — out of the life of an innocent child permanently," he added.
At sentencing, Thomas' grandmother, Kay McMahan Trotter, spoke about how close she was with her grandson. He loved being a father, she said.
"Fatherhood wasn't just a label to Erin, it became his most important position in life," she said, adding that he provided financial assistance to White and his wife so that his daughter could have a good home. "Erin deserved gratitude, not a bullet."
Stephen "Andrew" White, 34, pleaded guilty to murder and possession of a firearm during a crime in the death of 34-year-old Erin Lee Thomas outside the Laurens County Courthouse, Law & Crime reported. On Monday, April 20, a judge sentenced White to 40 years in prison.
The incident occurred on August 12, 2024, following a hearing involving White's wife and a child she shared with Thomas. Prosecutors said nothing out of the ordinary occurred during the hearing, such as a heated argument. After it ended, White, his wife and Thomas went their separate ways.
White then got into his car and ran down Thomas, who was standing in the parking lot, breaking his leg. White then grabbed a gun out of the diaper bag and tried to shoot Thomas as he lay on the ground, but the gun jammed. White cleared the jam and shot Thomas to death before surrendering to police.
White's attorney, Chelsea B. McNeill, told the judge that "something inside him snapped" when he learned that he was not the biological father of his wife's child.
"One of the worst things that can happen to a father … other than to find out that your child is deceased is to find out that the child you thought was your own was actually not your own," McNeill said. "Andrew's wife had an affair with Erin prior to them getting married. She came clean about that affair and he chose to forgive her. What he didn't know is she had resumed that relationship with Erin and became pregnant with Erin's child."
However, prosecutors noted that White learned about the child's paternity roughly a year before the fatal shooting. They also said the victim was immobilized after he was hit by the car and unable to escape because of a broken leg when White shot him dead.
"This was a calculated and deeply personal act of violence that unfolded in a place where families are supposed to find peaceful resolution to disputes — not further heartache and tragedy," 8th Circuit Solicitor David M. Stumbo said in a statement.
"Stephen White chose to maliciously take a life in the place that many of us come to work to serve the public every day and in the process took two father figures — the victim and himself — out of the life of an innocent child permanently," he added.
At sentencing, Thomas' grandmother, Kay McMahan Trotter, spoke about how close she was with her grandson. He loved being a father, she said.
"Fatherhood wasn't just a label to Erin, it became his most important position in life," she said, adding that he provided financial assistance to White and his wife so that his daughter could have a good home. "Erin deserved gratitude, not a bullet."
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