Staff reports
A 37-year-old Burton man, one of three defendants charged in the 2024 shooting death of their roommate, has been sent to prison.
A Beaufort County General Sessions Court jury on Thursday, May 28, found Erbert Francisco Vargas-Caballero guilty of murder and possession of a weapon during commission of a violent crime in connection with the shooting death of 26-year-old Jarin Josiel Avila-Chirinos. Vargas-Caballero, a native of Honduras, was sentenced to life in prison.
Mary Jones of the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office prosecuted the case.
In August 2024, Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office deputies were called to a single-wide mobile home in the Hilanda Drive community after a report of the killing from one of the seven adults living at the residence. Avila-Chirinos’ body was discovered in a ditch in a thickly wooded area near the home. A medical examiner later determined he had been killed by a gunshot to the head several days before his body was discovered.
Jones called 16 witnesses during three days of testimony at the Beaufort County Courthouse. Among them were nine officers, investigators and a DNA analyst from the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office, as well as a forensic pathologist from the Medical University of South Carolina. Evidence showed Vargas-Caballero arranged to have most of the residents leave the house, then shot the victim in the back of the head while they were away.
Vargas-Caballero had no previous criminal history.
Circuit Court Judge Marvin Dukes handed down the sentence. He also issued permanent restraining orders barring him from contact with key witnesses.
Edwin Humberto Martinez-Ruiz, 35, and Roland Saul Bardales-Rivera, 38, have also been charged in connection to Avila-Chirinos’ death. They are innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.