Update August 11th: Christian Helms has been sentenced to six years in prison.
Helms will spend the next two years in juvenile detention and then complete the remainder of his sentence in an adult facility. The local media outlets have made it their featured coverage across the board. The Sun News seems to have the most complete including video and photos. But here's all the links for posterity:
- The Sun News: Former Socastee student sentenced to six years in prison in school bomb, shooting incident
- WMBF News: Judge sentences Socastee HS shooter in courtroom
- The Carolina Forest Chronicle: Helms sentenced to six years for role in Socastee shooting
- WBTW: Former Socastee High student sentenced to six years for shooting
- WPDE: Teen who shot at school officer sentenced to 6 years
Update August 8th: Helms has plead guilty and will be sentenced this week.
According to The Horry Independent's Facebook page:
Christian Helms has pleaded guilty to three out of four charges including attempted murder via an Alford plea and two counts of possession or manufacturing of incendiary devices in the Sept. 21, 2010 Socastee High School shooting and bomb scare. An Alford plea is when a defendant admits that sufficient evidence exists with which the prosecution could likely convince a judge or jury to find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Sentencing will be held Wednesday at 10 a.m.
First Report: The trial in the Socatee High shooting bomb incident set to begin today.
Jury selections as well as opening arguments are expected to begin later today in the trial of a 15-year-old former Socastee High School student on a charge of attempted murder and three counts of transporting or possessing components of a destructive device. If the student is convicted he could face up to 30 years in prison on the charges.
A grand jury indicted the student on the charges in June, three months after a family court judge ruled that the teen would face the charges as an adult.
Police say the teen, who was then 14 at the time of the incident went into the office of Socastee High’s school resource officer of Erik Karney, on Sept. 21 with a loaded gun and the two pipe bombs in his backpack.
The local media have been covering this story pretty thoroughly. Here are some links:
