Brandon Coleman, a 24 year old Batesburg man, was sentenced today to 20 years in prison for the 2016 shooting of multiple vehicles along Interstate 20 in Lexington County. Suzanne Mayes, from the Office of 11th Circuit Solicitor Rick Hubbard announced the sentence Tuesday.

Coleman was sentenced following a plea in Lexington County to Assault and Battery of a High and Aggravated Nature. He also received concurrent sentences of ten years for two counts of Discharging a Firearm into a Vehicle. Circuit Court Judge Eugene C. Griffith, Jr. handed down the sentence this morning. Under South Carolina law, this is a “no parole” offense.

This case was prosecuted by Senior Assistant Solicitor Rhonda Patterson. Solicitor Rick Hubbard remarked, “Crimes of this nature which threaten public safety must be dealt with severely. We are grateful to see justice served.”

The Lexington County Sheriff’s Department responded to reports of shots fired at vehicles along Interstate 20 East shortly after 2:00 am on March 31, 2016. The investigation determined that three vehicles had been hit by gunfire and that shots had been fired from an overpass into oncoming interstate traffic near the Quattlebaum Road area in Leesville. The shootings appeared to be random.

Patterson stated, “The victims were extremely appreciative of the justice they received by today’s sentence. We are thankful this incident wasn’t even more tragic.”