A judge sentenced a man to prison Monday after he was charged in 2020 for a shooting that led to the deaths of a father and daughter who were on a hunting trip.
Judge Maite Murphy sentenced Sean Peterson, 33, to five years in prison with four years probation, according to Live 5 News, a local CBS affiliate. Authorities charges Peterson with two counts of the negligent use of a firearm after the deaths of Kim Drawdy, 30, and Lauren Drawdy, 9, in South Carolina.
Investigators said the incident took place Jan 1. 2020, when Peterson was on a hunting trip with friends near Walterboro, South Carolina, the outlet reported. At the time of the incident, the 33-year-old reportedly admitted to shooting toward bushes where he heard noise. Peterson believed the noise was coming from a deer, but he fatally struck the Drawdys, the outlet reported.
Peterson pleaded guilty during the pre-trial motions, Live 5 News reported. Before his plea, Murphy denied defense attorney Scott Harvin’s motion to exclude a piece of evidence detailing prior hard drug use from the New Year’s party from the night before the shooting, the outlet noted. The judge approved a different motion to exclude the fact that Peterson’s hunting license had expired at the time of the deaths.
“I love y’all and it was not intentional,” Sean Peterson said before being handcuffed. He pleaded guilty to two negligent firearm charges related to a hunting incident in 2020.
Hear his sentence and what both families had to say:https://t.co/mQrwA90XDQ
— Anna Harris | Live 5 News (@annajamesharris) June 11, 2024
In the sentencing hearing Monday, there were multiple testimonies given from each side, the outlet noted. (RELATED: Iowa Man Shot In The Face In Fatal Hunting Accident).
“Kim was a very good person,” Tina O’Quinn, Kim Drawdy’s cousin, reportedly said during the sentencing. “Lauren was a beautiful little girl. None of this should have ever happened.”
“We don’t get to go teach Lauren how to drive. We don’t get to help her pick out a prom dress,” Brandy Branton, Kim’s former sister-in-law, reportedly said. “We don’t get to float out on the river with Kim anymore. We don’t get to fish with him anymore. Nothing.”
Peterson reportedly acknowledged the Drawdy family during the sentencing, whom he reportedly had not spoken to since the incident.
“I love y’all and it was not intentional,” Peterson said, Live 5 News reported. “If I could take it back, I would.”
“Everybody was guilty in that situation,” Valorie Jones, Peterson’s mother, reportedly said. “Nobody was innocent in that situation. And everything that was done, everybody did that day.”
Murphy addressed some of the claims brought up during sentencing, the outlet noted.
“Quite frankly, there was an innocent person out there, and that was Lauren,” Murphy reportedly said. “Mr. Harvin, I don’t buy for a second that the drugs had nothing to do with it. It was a part of the crime.”
