Judge denies bond for siblings accused in shooting that killed Bluffton football player

Two siblings indicted last week on assault and battery by mob charges in connection with the March 2021 shooting that killed Bluffton High School student Dwon “DJ” Fields Jr. were denied bond Thursday.

Jayden Void, 20, of Bluffton, was charged with first-, second- and third-degree assault and battery by mob on Aug. 15, court records show.

Shayniah Void, 20, of Bluffton, was charged with second- and third-degree assault and battery by mob, according to the public index.

State law defines assault and battery by mob as any act of violence inflicted by a mob on another person resulting in injury or death. It defines a “mob” as two or more people.

Jayden Void was represented by Charleston attorney Keith McCarty. Michael O’Donnell represented Shayniah Void. O’Donnell requested a “reasonable bond” and argued that his client had “never been in trouble since her release or ever in her life.”

‘It was not supposed to be like that’

On March 5, 2021, Fields was driving on Bluffton Parkway when his car was shot at by 20-year-old Ty Leic Chaneyfield, of Ridgeland, and Jimmie Green, 21, of Hardeeville, 14th Circuit Solicitor Duffie Stone said at a bond hearing for the Void siblings Thursday. Fields had two passengers in the car, 18-year-old Kylan Simmons and 16-year-old Edwin “EJ” Graham. Simmons and Graham were injured in the incident though Simmons was not shot, Stone said. Fields was pronounced dead at the scene. He was 18.

Chaneyfield and Green were charged with two counts of attempted murder, murder and possession of a weapon in a violent crime. Both men waived bond Thursday and remain in custody.

Fields, who was a Bluffton High School football player, was two months from graduating at the time of his death. He had made his college commitment just one day before the shooting. His parents, Dwon Fields and Keema Bryant, spoke of their anguish through tears.

“People who commit violent crime against other people, I think they should be in prison,” Dwon Fields said. “My life is hard every day. It is a struggle to get out of bed.”

He told the court he and his son used to go to his mother’s house every day, but going there now and reliving the memories is too much.

“I go to my mom’s house now and I don’t leave the car,” he said. “I avoid people because I am hurt. I will hurt for the rest of my life.”

Instead of smiling from the crowd watching their son graduate from high school, DJ Fields’ parents had to walk across the stage and accept his diploma for him, Bryant said.

“It was not supposed to be like that,” Bryant said. “They (the Voids) do not deserve to be free.”

Bond denied

Shayniah Void and her brother met Chaneyfield and Green at Station 300 in Bluffton because she was buying marijuana from Green, Stone said. Green allegedly told the siblings he was looking for a “person who is the ‘ops’” whom the men had issues with. “Ops,” Stone explained, was short for opposition.

After leaving Station 300, the Voids went to Wendy’s on S.C. 170 and spotted a car they believed belonged to the “ops.” The siblings’ car was captured on the restaurant’s video surveillance.

“EJ Graham looks like another individual that is the person that Mr. Green is looking for,” Stone said. “He’s not, but he looks like him.”

The Voids called Green and Chaneyfield and told them they had found the person they were looking for. Green was looking for the person because his house had been shot at and Green suspected him of the shooting, according to Stone. The Voids called Green and Chaneyfield, he said, knowing the men had a gun.

“When they get there, the shooting takes place,” Stone said. “Green continues driving, the Voids continue driving and, in fact, they go back to Station 300 and they’re looking for dinner that night. They don’t call the police — they don’t do anything other than look for something to eat.”

After the shooting, Fields’ car went off the side of the road on Bluffton Parkway and crashed into the sign for Hampton Lakes, a residential community. Police found 17 shell casings in the road. Fields was shot twice. Graham was also shot twice while in the backseat. Simmons was not shot, but his ankle was injured as a result of the crash.

Judge Carmen Mullen said she didn’t think the Voids were a flight risk, but denied their bond because she believed they presented a danger to the community.

As of Thursday, the Voids, Green and Chaneyfield were incarcerated at the Beaufort County Detention Center.