An Orangeburg man with a violent criminal history has been charged in a 2022 shooting death.
Cristyon “Diddy” Labaron Evans, 36, of Morninghill Drive, is charged with murder and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime.
Evans is accused of murdering 29-year-old Ryan Daniel Brice Jones, of Treadwell Street, at 3:20 p.m. on Dec. 30, 2022.
Jones was shot as he was standing by the passenger side of a car, speaking to someone inside of it, according to witnesses.
The witnesses heard a gunshot and then saw the car speed away toward Amelia Street. Officers performed chest compressions until EMS arrived, but Jones died at the scene.
In early January 2023, the Orangeburg Department of Public Safety announced Evans was the suspect in Jones’ death.
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He was taken into custody at an Orangeburg home on Wednesday by ODPS officers with help from the S.C. Law Enforcement Division.
Evans appeared for his arraignment on Thursday morning before Orangeburg Municipal Judge Chasity Avinger.
Evans asked the court to “have mercy” on him when considering bond.
“This is a real misunderstanding,” he said.
He also asked the court to consider giving him a low bond because he “doesn’t have a lot of income.”
He also asked the court to order him to wear a GPS ankle monitor.
He told the court that he’d rather his lawyer be present during the hearing. When questioned by Avinger, he explained he didn’t have a lawyer.
Jones’ mother, Lalisa Jones, also addressed the court.
“This is a mother’s nightmare because I walked up on my son when they were performing CPR,” she said.
“I’m never far from my son,” she added.
“My son is not a statistic. It took seven years, my husband and I, to conceive my child,” his mother said.
“My son always cared about everybody. He loved animals. He respected women,” she said.
His mother told of a time when her son donated blood to help someone.
She said her son created more love in his family – noting that’s something his killer can’t take away from her.
Sobbing, his mother said, “My son loved his child, my only grandchild. God, I thank you for her, or I’d never make it through this.”
“I come for justice for my son,” she said.
“This pain that I have will never cease. I will always hurt. I will always grieve,” she said. Jones said she prays for Evans’ mother, his family and for peace.
Avinger denied Evans’ bond, ordering him not to have any contact with Jones’ family or trespass on the family’s properties.
South Carolina law prohibits municipal and magistrate judges from setting bonds on defendants who face charges that carry a life sentence, except for the charge of first-degree burglary.
A circuit judge may consider setting Evans’ bond later.
On the day of Jones’ death, Evans had already served two terms in prison.
He served six months in 2009 on a domestic violence of a high and aggravated nature charge.
He also spent time in prison in 2021 on assault and drug charges.
Evans pleaded guilty in that case to first-degree assault and battery, pointing a firearm at a person and first-offense trafficking in more than 10 grams but less than 28 grams of methamphetamine.
He was originally charged with attempted murder and trafficking in more than 100 grams but less than 200 grams of methamphetamine, but he pleaded guilty to the other charges instead.
Circuit Judge Diane Goodstein sentenced him to seven years in prison but gave him credit for the time he served at the Orangeburg County Detention Center since March 9, 2018.
He served less than two months in prison following the October 2021 plea. After he completed that prison term, he was under a supervised community reentry program for six months. That six months ended in May 2022.
He had been facing charges from two different incidents:
• Witnesses accused Evans of firing a weapon five times at two men as they traveled down Charleston Highway on Jan. 8, 2018. Bullets damaged their passenger door, hood, interior and console.
As part of Evans’ plea deal, prosecutors dismissed other charges he faced in that incident: attempted murder, malicious injury to personal property damage valued at $10,000 or more and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime.
• On Jan. 20, 2018, Evans was accused of firing multiple shots at two men who sat in a vehicle in the Chestnut Street Bojangles parking lot. One of the men received five gunshot wounds.
Prosecutors dismissed all the charges from that incident, which included possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime and two counts of attempted murder.
Evans told police he wasn’t at the scene when the shooting occurred. He said he was asleep on a sofa in his mother’s home.
If Evans is convicted of murder, he faces up to life in prison.
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