From a release from Geri-Lyn Harrison of the 11^th Circuit Solicitor’s Office.

Michael Gene Sulier, III, 27, of Gaston, was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Adam Berry, 22.

The murder occurred on March 4, 2015 in Lexington County.

The sentence was imposed Tuesday, by Judge R. Knox McMahon following Sulier’s guilty plea.

Senior Assistant Solicitor Suzanne Mayes prosecuted the case for the 11th Circuit Solicitor’s Office. The investigation was conducted by Detective Miles Rawl of the Lexington County Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes Unit and Investigator Thomas Griffin of the West Columbia Police Department.

Adam Berry was reported missing in the early morning hours of March 5, 2015, after his girlfriend became worried that he did not return to the Extended Stay Inn, located at 114 McSwain Drive in West Columbia, where the couple had been staying.

Berry was last seen in the presence of Michael Sulier on the night of March 4. Adam Berry’s disappearance was investigated by the West Columbia Police Department and the Lexington County Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes Unit.

Berry’s photograph and missing person flyer was published in hopes of developing leads in the case.

The investigation confirmed that Sulier asked Berry to give him a ride to Gaston on the night of March 4. Surveillance video obtained from the Extended Stay Inn revealed that Berry and Sulier left at 9:30 p.m. in Berry’s Mitsubishi Eclipse. Berry was shown driving while Sulier was the only passenger in the vehicle.

Cell phone tower data obtained during the investigation revealed that Adam Berry’s phone was last detected in the Gaston area at 10:29 pm. The investigation confirmed that Sulier shot Berry three times at a secluded location in Gaston around the same time that night.

Sulier then moved Berry’s body to the passenger’s side of the vehicle and drove to a wooded area in North, in Orangeburg County.

Sulier used an accelerant to destroy the vehicle by fire with Berry’s body inside. Sulier then traveled to a large pond on Johnson King Road in Pelion where he discarded his clothing and the 9 mm firearm used in the murder.

On March 7, 2015, a property owner in North discovered the burned vehicle with Berry’s body and notified law enforcement.

Sulier was on the run following the murder and stayed with friends in different locations until he was arrested on March 20, 2015, in Camden, by the Lexington County Sheriff’s Office Fugitive Task Force.

During the investigation, the Lexington County Sheriff’s Office received reports from numerous witnesses that Sulier admitted to killing Berry. Sulier stated that he killed Adam Berry in retaliation for a homicide case involving Berry’s brother, Nicholas Berry.

On May 19, 2014, Nicholas Berry was charged with murder in the stabbing death of Jamie Galloway, a friend of Sulier’s. That incident occurred during an altercation at a residence in the Pine Ridge area of Lexington County.

Adam Berry was charged as an accessory in the case involving Galloway. Sulier reportedly told a witness that he killed Adam Berry because “his brother killed my brother,” referring to Nicholas Berry and Galloway.

Investigators obtained numerous statements from friends of Sulier indicating that the abduction and murder of Adam Berry was calculated and premeditated.

Sulier was observed with a handgun at the Extended Stay Inn earlier in the day on March 4.

A witness reported that Sulier made statements that same day about planning to kill Berry and dispose of his body. Family members of Adam Berry spoke at the sentencing hearing and shared memories of Berry as a devoted father of two young boys. Berry’s sister, Casedria DeRosia, stated “they will never get to know what an amazing person he was … he won’t be there when they need him the most.”