Killer gets 35-year sentence
By TIM GULLA Ledger Staff Writer tim@gaffneyledger.com

"Mr. and Mrs. Wilson, I apologize. I wasn't raised to do the things I did. Unfortunately, I made a terrible mistake that claimed the life of another human being." - TALVIN J. JOHNSON Admitting he killed Chauncey L. Wilson

A 22-year-old man accepted both his responsibility for killing a man as well as the consequences.

Scheduled to be tried in Cherokee County General Sessions Court on Monday, Talvin J. Johnson chose instead to plead guilty to all the charges he faced - murder, burglary and attempted robbery - in connection with an April 16, 2007 shooting inside a Berkeley Village apartment.

Prosecutors recommended a sentence of 35 years imprisonment in exchange for the guilty plea, a sentence which Circuit Court Judge J. Derham Cole ultimately imposed on Johnson.

Turning towards the family of Chauncey L. Wilson, the man he killed last year, Johnson offered his remorse.

"Mr. and Mrs. Wilson, I apologize," he said to Wilson's parents. "I wasn't raised to do the things I did," he said while admitting aloud that he was a murderer, a burglar and a robber. "Unfortunately, I made a terrible mistake that claimed the life of another human being," he said.

Johnson hoped that both Wilson's family and the court would show mercy on him.

Seventh Circuit Solicitor Trey Gowdy, who prosecuted the case along with Assistant Solicitor Kim Leskanic, said Monday he rarely agrees to recommend a sentence but both prosecutors and the family of the victim thought it was appropriate.

The guilty plea gave the family "certainty, an admission of guilt and an apology," Gowdy said, "none of which would have been guaranteed at trial."

He added that none of his conversations with the family ever centered on jail time, but getting someone to take responsibility and give answers as to why their son was killed.

Maggie Wilson, Chauncey's mother, said in court her family's lives have been in turmoil since Chauncey's death.

"The memories I have of him will always be in my heart," she told Judge Cole about her son.

Prosecutors contend Johnson kicked open the door to a woman's apartment at Berkeley Village to commit a robbery and then pointed a loaded gun at Wilson, who was inside at the time.

Wilson allegedly told the woman to leave the room with her baby and the woman told police she then heard a scuffle, Wilson telling her to call 911, and then a gunshot.

Johnson's own father would later bring him to the police station to talk to investigators and Johnson admitted to the shooting. Police also recovered the weapon, the blood-spattered shoes Johnson was wearing, as well as an open box of bullets from Johnson's residence.

Johnson's defense attorney, Don Thompson, said in court his client really had no defense to the charges he faced, though Johnson's version of events was a little different from prosecutors'.

While Johnson admitted his guilt to burglary - that he went into the apartment as an uninvited guest - his defense lawyer said in court that Johnson contends the woman in the apartment intentionally left the door open for him so he could rob Wilson.

Gowdy said after the hearing he was going to speak with Johnson at the Cherokee County Detention Center to discuss his accusations about the open door. Gowdy could not be reached for immediate comment Tuesday afternoon to determine if the meeting would result in any additional investigations.