CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) — A judge sentenced a man convicted by a Charleston County jury in a 2023 murder.
Deandre’ Antuan Nesbitt Cochran, 35, was sentenced to 45 years for the shooting death of Herman Prioleau.
A jury convicted Cochran of murder and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime, Ninth Circuit Solicitor’s spokesperson Ashley Kay said.
Charleston County deputies responded to Highway 162 and Storage Road in Hollywood on Aug. 8, 2023, at 5:20 p.m., when officers and emergency crews discovered that the victim, Prioleau, had sustained a single gunshot wound to the head while in the front passenger seat of his cousin’s Nissan sedan. He was later pronounced dead at the scene.
The cousin reported that Cochran shot Prioleau from the seat behind the victim while he was driving Cochran and another person to a Charleston County home. The witness then threw the gun out of a partially opened window after the shooting. When Cochran demanded that the cousin stop the car, the witness wiped the door handle before leaving the vehicle, turned off his phone and fled the area.
The vehicle was processed for evidence, which later led to the identification of the suspect and another witness. The witness also identified the suspect as the murderer.
Cochran was located in Florida and was later transferred to Charleston County after serving his sentence for Florida crimes.