Judge denies bond for man accused of murdering another man outside Sumter bar

SUMTER, S.C. (WIS) - A judge has denied bond for the man accused of murdering another man outside a crowded Sumter bar over Easter weekend.

The Sumter Police Department says the shooting happened at around 11:30 P.M. on Saturday night outside Brewer’s Bar and Grill on East Wesmark Boulevard.

Twenty-six-year-old Rayquan Dean was found dead at the scene.

Thirty-one-year-old Antwuan June faces four charges in connection with the shooting: murder, possession of a weapon during a violent crime, unlawful carry of a firearm, and failure to stop for blue lights.

“I just wish everybody would just stop it,” Faith Britt, longtime Sumter resident, said. “Just stop getting these guns and just trying to resolve the problems. Years ago we used to fight and then make up and go on about our business, but now you don’t know. They might come back for you if you said one word wrong to them with a gun.”

WIS spoke with Dean’s mother, LaVetra Davis, briefly on Monday.

She declined an interview request but said that this tragic loss for her family is made more difficult because Dean was the father of a baby daughter.

“It’s just sad,” Britt said. “These kids are going to hurt in the end. So sometimes think about things before you react before the kids need their mother and their father to survive in this world pretty much because the society is getting more and more, it’s just getting real bad around here.”

Britt said the violence in this part of Sumter has become such a concern that she tends not to venture out on the weekends.

Sumter County court records show that June has pled guilty to other gun charges in the past in 2012, 2013, and 2016.

In one case, he was found guilty of carrying a gun on premises where alcohol is served.

June attempted to make a statement at his first appearance hearing Monday, but Magistrate Judge Larry Blanding advised him not to.

Witnesses told Sumter Police that June and Dean were involved in an ongoing dispute that turned physical.

A car was seen speeding away from Brewer’s parking lot after the shooting. Officers were able to stop the driver, who was later identified as June, a Sumter native.

There have been a string of incidents at the bar in recent years.

Most recently, in February a bar fight led to a shooting there.

In November of last year, another shooting happened in the parking lot.

A manager at Brewer’s stressed to WIS on Monday that though tragic, the Easter weekend shooting happened outside the bar.

The manager added that patrons must be members, and Brewer’s employs SLED-certified security that checks each person before he or she enters the bar.

WIS asked Sumter Police if it is considering taking any action against Brewer’s, including potentially working to shut the bar down, but did not receive a response.

June is scheduled to appear in General Sessions Court on May 19.

Notice a spelling or grammar error in this article? Click or tap here to report it. Please include the article's headline.

Stay up to date with WIS News 10. Get the app from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store and Stream us on Roku, YouTube, Amazon Fire, or Apple TV.

Copyright 2023 WIS. All rights reserved.