P.

BACKGROUND

On March 13, 2009, Lillie Walters hosted a party at the home of her parents for

Anthony Vargas, a young marine who was on leave and preparing to return to his base in

South Carolina. During the party, a physical fight between a boyfriend and girlfriend

broke out. Lillie’s friend Veronica told the couple to go outside. After Veronica pulled

the fighting couple apart, Lillie told them to leave and broke up the party. While Lillie

tried to disperse the people at the party, she noticed an SUV stopped in front of her

house. The SUV had circled the neighborhood a few times. The occupants of the SUV

yelled something to the people in front of Lillie’s house, so Lillie approached the vehicle

and told them to leave. The male driver of the SUV pulled out a gun and fired it into the

air, so Lillie made her remaining guests get inside the house.

A short time after everyone was inside the house, Lillie’s neighbor, Justin Kinder,

arrived and announced that someone had smashed the back window of Anthony’s

Excursion, which was parked in the driveway. Justin Kinder had observed the window

being shattered and the dark SUV speeding toward him as he approached Lillie’s…