A 34-year-old Burton man was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Wednesday, Nov. 20, for shooting a man in the parking lot of a Laurel Bay grocery store.

At the conclusion of a two-day trial, jurors convicted Charles Green, Jr., of Murray Drive, of assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, possession of a weapon during commission of a violent crime and possession of a weapon by a violent felon.

On the afternoon of April 6, 2011, Green gave $40 to two of his neighbors, who then walked to the nearby Food Lion on Shanklin Road. In the parking lot of the grocery store, Green pulled up in a vehicle and demanded he get his money back. The two men returned the money. Surveillance footage shows Green walked back to his car to retrieve a sawed-off, double-barrel shotgun and shot 49-year-old Cliffton Henry.

Henry, who was partially blocked by a pillar, was hit by birdshot in the arm and leg. The shooting occurred next to a rack of propane tanks. A daycare was located nearby.

“Charles Green is a very dangerous man who committed a senseless act of violence that put the lives of many people in danger,” said assistant solicitor Hunter Swanson of the Beaufort County Career Criminal Prosecution Team. “It is a relief that he is off the streets. He deserves every bit of the 15 years he received.”

Green has prior convictions for manslaughter, cocaine trafficking, assault, drug possession and resisting arrest.

By law, he must serve at least 85 percent of his sentence before being eligible for parole or any sort of early release.

Judge J. Ernest Kinard, Jr. handed down the sentence.
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