Victim's family forgives man accused of murder

Family members of a Clover man killed by a shotgun blast to the head inside a Blacksburg home did something unusual Wednesday during a bond hearing for the man accused of pulling the trigger.

Authorities contend Woodrow Hayes, 28, of Wilderness Trail, is responsible for the Sept. 24 death of Benjamin Eric Phillips, of Highway 161 in Clover.

When given an opportunity to address the court Wednesday during Hayes' bond hearing, relatives of the victim were full of sorrow,

but apparently not full of anger.

"At this time, Mr. Hayes, I'd like you to know my mother and I have forgiven you for the mistake you've made," said Dean Phillips, Benjamin's brother.

Circuit Court Judge Paul Burch, who was presiding in Cherokee County General Sessions Court, set Hayes' bond at $30,000 surety or cash after hearing both prosecutors' and defense attorneys' versions of events that the judge boiled down to a simple fact.

"Like I said, you can't get anywhere near a firearm when you've been drinking," the judge said.

Defense Attorney Melvin Roberts told the court both Hayes and Phillips had been drinking when they apparently became involved in an argument of no real importance.

A shotgun that both men thought was unloaded then came into play as Phillips was ordered by Hayes to leave. How the gun went off wasn't entirely clear, Roberts relayed, as it either happened during a head-butt or a challenge Phillips made to Hayes along the lines of "Why don't you just shoot me."

Roberts described what happened next as "totally unexpected and terrible."

Hayes has been distraught since the incident happened and was crying upon his first meeting with his attorney, Roberts told the court.

Given Hayes' lack of a criminal record, an assurance from his employer that he'd be welcome back at work, and the circumstances of the shooting, Roberts told the court he believed Hayes should be released on his own recognizance.

Prosecutors opposed such

a request. "I don't want you jumping and running so I got to put a bond on you," Judge Burch would later tell Hayes.

Before the judge set the bond, Dean Phillips and other family members said they wanted the court to know more about Benjamin.

Reading a letter as if it was written by his brother, Dean Phillips told the court that Benjamin was a loving father of a young son, whom he would never get to see grow up, graduate from school, marry or become a father himself. He was a man who loved fishing and playing cards and a man who believed there was good in everyone.

"Had I known (I was going to be killed), I would have gathered all my friends together one last time and said,'Please be there for my family,'" Dean Phillips read from the letter.

Hayes and Phillips were co-workers at a Charlotte company and Hayes' girlfriend, who recently gave birth to their child, described them in court as "best friends."

Hayes' and Phillips' supervisor told the court he had seen the two men just an hour before the fatal shot was fired and said both men were intoxicated.

Hayes had been released as of late Thursday, according to jail records.