Manning man found guilty in 2014 Browntown shooting, to serve 25 years

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A 26-year-old Manning man accused on Christmas Day 2014 for the shooting of a 21-year-old Manning man will spend the next 25 years of his life in prison. Justin Jermaine Brandon Smith Jr. was found guilty by a jury of his peers Jan. 18 before Circuit Court Judge D. Craig Brown to attempted murder more three years after his arrest with co-defendant Shawn Avant. Smith and Avant were charged with attempted murder on Christmas Day 2014. It had been five days since the pair's victim had been shot in the back outside Browntown Social Club. Manning Police Chief Blair Shaffer reported at the time that officers responded to an alleged shooting about 3 a.m. Dec. 20, 2014. Police reported seeing a small car leaving the nightclub's parking lot "at a high rate of speed" when they arrived, reports indicate. Witnesses told police that specific vehicle was carrying a gunshot wound victim to McLeod Health Clarendon. Brown provided Smith with credit for four months served at the Clarendon County Detention center before he was able to bond out. The charge of attempted murder against Shawn Avant was nolle prosequi, meaning the 3rd Circuit Solicitor's Office decided not to prosecute. Avant still has a charge of resisting arrest from the incident pending in Clarendon County General Sessions Court.