Maxine BRIGGS

1952 - 2011  (59 years)

• Name	Maxine BRIGGS  [1, 2, 3]
  Birth	11 Mar 1952	Alcolu, Clarendon County, South Carolina
  Gender	Female
  HIST	of Manning, South Carolina Maxine B. Caraway Print Posted: Sunday, April 10, 2011 6:00 am | Updated: 9:37 pm, Sat Apr 9, 2011. MANNING - Maxine Briggs Caraway, 59, wife of John Caraway Jr., died Wednesday, April 6, 2011, at her home at 1076 Carissa Lane in Manning. She's the daughter of Oscar Briggs and the late Juanita Butler Briggs and the stepdaughter of Carrie Lee Briggs. She was born March 11, 1952, in Alcolu. She received her formal education in the public schools of Clarendon School District 2 and F.E. DuBose Career Center. At an early age, she accepted Christ as her Savior and joined Rock Hill Missionary Baptist Church and, after marriage, she joined Cypress Fork A.M.E. Church. She was employed with Air Cap and, later, she worked at Gold Kist. She was preceded in death by five brothers and two sisters. Survivors are her husband, John Caraway Jr., of the home; her father and stepmother, Oscar (Carrie Lee) Briggs of Manning; one daughter, Mary (Terrence) Whitfield of Kingstree; one son, Timothy (Donetta) Caraway of Charlotte; a granddaughter reared as her own, Kaisha Caraway of the home; two stepsons, Harold McCants, and Torrey Thames of Columbia; two grandchildren reared as her own, Bralyn Caroway and Torrence Caroway; two sisters, Rev. Renelle Conyers and Mary Lawson, both of Manning; three brothers, Walter Briggs of Wilmington, N.C., Thomas (Joyce Ann) Briggs and Marcus Briggs, both of Manning; and Wilbur Lee Carter who was reared as a brother; mother-in-law, Daisy Caraway of Manning; four aunts, Rosa Carroway, Sing ( John) Carroway, Virginia Weeks, and Roxie Miller; 11 grandchildren and one great grandchild. Remains will be placed in the church at 1 p.m. with services beginning at 2 p.m Tuesday at Trinity A.M.E. Church at 39 W. Rigby St. in Manning. The Rev. Dr. James Stukes, Pastor, Rev. Deloris Gerow, Presiding, the Rev. Dr. Leroy Green, Eulogist, assisted by the Rev. Rufus Gaymon and the Rev. Otis Blackwell, the Rev. Jerome McCray. Burial will follow in the Cypress Fork A.M.E. Church Cemetery in Alcolu. Family receiving friends at the home of her mother-in-law, Daisy Caraway, 1863 Little Star Road in Manning. Online memorials maybe sent to www.samuelsfuneralhome.com. These services have been entrusted to Samuels Funeral Home LLC of Manning. Posted in Obituaries on Sunday, April 10, 2011 Shooting suspect formally charged Print Posted: Saturday, April 9, 2011 6:00 am | Updated: 11:45 pm, Fri Apr 8, 2011. Robert J. Baker bbaker@theitem.com MANNING - A man accused Wednesday of killing his 9-month-old son, the boy's great-grandmother and injuring the boy's mother with a shotgun will have to wait for a 3rd Circuit Court judge to set bond. Justin Jermaine Johnson, 21, of 2094 Rogers Road in Summerton, was formally charged Thursday with two counts of murder, one count of attempted murder, kidnapping, first-degree burglary and possession of a weapon during a violent crime after police said he confessed to killing his son, 9-month-old Jayden Caraway, and 59-year-old Maxine Briggs Caraway, and shooting girlfriend Kaisha Tiera Caraway in the shoulder at the victims' home on Carissa Lane in Manning. "I, as a magistrate, cannot set your bond," Clarendon County Magistrate Shayne Stephens told Johnson on Friday morning. "The 3rd Circuit Court judge will have to consider that and will do that at a later date." Clarendon County Sheriff Randy Garrett said Wednesday's tragedy began when the suspect went to the Caraway home without permission. "He and the girlfriend got into a dispute," Garrett said. Maxine Caraway called dispatch, but her call was dropped; when dispatch returned the call, she initially said nothing was wrong before telling dispatchers the man had left the home to get a gun. Garrett said Caraway was shot only moments later when she stepped outside her home. The shooter then walked back into the home. "He shot the baby in front of the mother, and when she tried to run, he shot at her," Garrett said. "He hit her in the shoulder, forced her and the 2-year-old (daughter) into the car and fled the scene." After the suspect flagged down a deputy responding to the earlier calls to tell him someone else had shot his son and the boy's great-grandmother, police escorted the couple back to the scene. "We were able to get them apart, and that's when the girlfriend told us everything," Garrett said. Family members of the victims were not present at Friday's hearing, during which Johnson sat silently as Stephens read through his charges, instructions on his preliminary hearing and questions regarding his understanding of the entire matter. Other than Johnson's unscheduled bond hearing in front of a Circuit Court judge, Johnson will next appear before a judge 8:30 a.m. May 9 during General Sessions court at the Clarendon County Courthouse. "You have a right and obligation to be present for that," Stephens said. "If you're not present, they will proceed in your absence and file bench warrants for your arrest." Johnson's only two audible words during Friday's hearing were a response to a question from Stephens about understanding the May 9 hearing. "I understand," he said, otherwise responding by nodding. Johnson's mother, who did not give her name, asked Stephens for permission to speak and said she wished to tell her son that Sean Kent of Coffee, Chandler and Kent will represent him. The Associated Press reported Thursday that Johnson had waived his rights to an attorney during initial police interrogation, during which he is alleged to have confessed. Samuels Funeral Home LLC of Manning is handling funeral arrangements for Maxine and Jayden Caraway. A service is scheduled for 2 p.m. Tuesday at Trinity AME Church, Rigby Street, Manning.   Reach Robert J. Baker at (803) 435-8511.   Timeline of Events - 5:06 p.m. Dec. 19, 2010 - Clarendon County Sheriff's deputies are dispatched to a home on 2088 Rogers Road in Summerton on an assault call. While en route, deputies learn from dispatch that Kaisha Caraway was taken by force from the home in his gray Hyundai. Johnson was the suspect. - About 5:30 p.m. Dec. 19, 2010 - A Department of Natural Resources officer notifies dispatch that a similar vehicle had just left John C. Land III landing, about 3.5 miles from the Summerton home. - 6 p.m. Dec. 19, 2010 - Deputies find Johnson at the landing after stopping the gray Hyundai, which the victim was now driving, and arrest him for criminal domestic violence of a high and aggravated nature and kidnapping. - Between Dec. 19, 2010, and Feb. 18 - Caraway tells 3rd Circuit Assistant Solicitor Amy Land that she will not cooperate with an investigation, nor will she testify in court to corroborate her initial statement taken when charges were filed in December. Land remands the case to Clarendon County Magistrate's Court, dismissing the kidnapping charge and lowering the criminal domestic violence charge to simple assault. Her story was reportedly corroborated by Caraway's sister, who is not identified in the police report. - Feb. 18 - Caraway fails to appear during a hearing on Johnson's simple assault charge; Johnson's case is dismissed. - Between Feb. 18 and late March - Johnson is released from jail. Records are unclear as to when he was released. - Early Wednesday morning - Johnson arrives at Maxine Caraway's home on Carissa Lane, a small road off June Burn Road about 7.5 miles east of downtown Manning. - 9:52 a.m. Wednesday - The first call comes into Clarendon County dispatchers; Maxine Caraway, described as "frantic," says there is a fight and that "(we) need assistance." The call is ultimately dropped. - Seconds later - When dispatchers call back, Maxine Caraway initially says that nothing is wrong and that a child was playing on the phone; several seconds later, she tells dispatchers that Kaisha Caraway and a man are fighting and that "he went outside to get a gun." - Between 9:53 and 10 a.m. - The man heads outside to retrieve a 12-gauge shotgun. Maxine Caraway is wounded and dies instantly from a single gunshot to the head, according to Clarendon County Coroner Hayes Samuels. The man re-enters the home with the shotgun and fires at 9-month-old Jayden Caraway at point-blank range, killing the infant instantly as he sits in his high chair eating breakfast. When Kaisha Caraway tries to flee, she's shot in the shoulder. At the same time, dispatchers have routed a sheriff's deputy out to the Caraway home to check on the previous calls. The man threatens Caraway's life and that of their 2-year-old daughter, forcing her into his vehicle and takes off west toward downtown Manning. -10 a.m. - Johnson, reports indicate, flags down the responding deputy at the intersection of U.S. 301 and June Burn Road, about three miles from the home. The suspect, reports say, tells the deputy that someone else had come into the house and shot at him and the rest of the family. The suspicious deputy escorts Johnson, Caraway and the couple's 2-year-old daughter back to the home. Deputies discover Maxine Caraway's and the infant's bodies and separate the couple, after which Caraway tells police that Johnson is the shooter. - About 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. - The Clarendon County Sheriff's Department closes down a four-mile stretch of June Burn Road, about two miles on either side of the crime scene, calling in the State Law Enforcement Division to help with forensic analysis. The victims' bodies are taken in for autopsy, which will be completed in Charleston. Caraway is taken to Clarendon Memorial Hospital, where she is treated for non life-threatening injuries and released at an unspecified time. - 6 p.m. - Sheriff Randy Garrett reopens June Burn Road, giving a press conference to media gathered at Little Star Pentecostal Church to say a suspect has been arrested and that the scene is clear. - Sometime after 11:30 p.m. - Johnson is taken to the Clarendon County Detention Center for booking. The jail releases a photo at 11:54 p.m. - 7 p.m. Thursday - Warrants are officially served charging Johnson with two counts of murder, one count of attempted murder, kidnapping, first-degree burglary and possession of a weapon during a violent crime. According to Associated Press reports, Johnson waived his right to an attorney during police interrogation and confessed to the slayings. - 9 a.m. Friday - Clarendon County Magistrate Judge Shayne Cooper denies Johnson bond, saying a judge from the 3rd Circuit Court will have to hear bond appeals on such serious charges. He sets a hearing for 8:30 a.m. May 9 at the Clarendon County Courthouse. Posted in Local news, News on Saturday, April 9, 2011 Jury: Johnson is guilty Clarendon man gets life in 2011 double murder MATT WALSH / THE SUMTER ITEM A handcuffed Justin Johnson watches his family weep outside after the verdict. Johnson was found guilty Thursday in the slayings of 9-month-old Jayden Caraway and the child's great-grandmother, Maxine Caraway. BY JIM HILLEY jim@theitem.com (803) 774-1211 "Your family asks for mercy," Circuit Court Judge Jeffrey Young told Justin Johnson shortly after a jury found him guilty in the shotgun murders of 9-month-old Jayden Caraway and the child's great-grandmother, Maxine Caraway, in a Manning residence on April 6, 2011. "You were shown mercy when the solicitor did not seek the death penalty in this case. "I will show you the same mercy you showed Jayden and Maxine Caraway," the judge said before Johnson received three consecutive life sentences plus 30 years. Johnson was also found guilty of kidnapping, burglary and the possession of a weapon in the commission of a violent crime. The jury found him not guilty of the attempted murder of Jayden's mother, Kaisha Caraway. "In a civil society, we are ingrained to protect and give aid to the young and the elderly," Young said. "To have a baby sitting in a high chair gunned down by your hand is absolutely beyond understanding. "It is my intention to sentence you to the maximum, and I have done that," Young said. "It is my intention to use the law of South Carolina to make sure you never walk among the citizens of this state again." Few who attended Johnson's trial will forget the image of baby Jayden Caraway slumped over in his high chair, his short life ended by a 12-gauge shotgun blast through his right eye, or the photos of Maxine Caraway, sprawled on her back next to her car, hair curlers spread in the grass by the force of the shot that took her life. The jury found that the victims were killed by Johnson after he and Kaisha Caraway argued over access to money in his bank account and allegations Jayden was not his son. Before the sentencing, public defender Scott Robinson echoed what the prosecution had said at the beginning of the trial. "There are no winners here; everybody has lost," he said. "Promising young people are either dead or facing prison." "This is not the Justin Johnson anybody knew; it was an isolated act, uncharacteristic of Justin Johnson." Solicitor Ernest "Chip" Finney III countered that the incident that led to the deaths was not the first time Johnson had had difficulties with the law. "This is not the first time he snapped," Finney said. "He has a temper he is unable to control." Emotions ran high in the courtroom after the verdict, especially among friends and family of the defendant. Johnson's mother sobbed into a handkerchief, and several of his supporters went outside the Clarendon County Administration Building to console each other. "It's a relief that it's over," Kaisha Caraway said. Members of the Caraway family spoke about Maxine Caraway before Young pronounced sentence. "A lot of people loved this person," Nell Conyers, Maxine Caraway's sister, said. "She never did anybody any harm. She knew how to encourage people and make people feel good. Now, I can't see her anymore." Mary Whitfield, Maxine Caraway's daughter, also spoke. "There are no winners," she said. "I lost my mom and my best friend. Mrs. Johnson still has a son, but she has lost her dreams for his future. I know Justin (Johnson), and my heart goes out to him." Robinson had no comment after the trial, but Finney said he was grateful for the service by the jury. "We are very humbled and appreciative of the jury's verdict. We know we put them through a lot. We feel the case was put together well by state and local law enforcement, and we were confident the jury would see that this young man had committed this crime and justice should be done." Posted in Local news, News on Friday, March 21, 2014  [1, 2, 3, 4]
  HIST	of Manning, South Carolina Maxine B. Caraway Print Posted: Sunday, April 10, 2011 6:00 am | Updated: 9:37 pm, Sat Apr 9, 2011. MANNING - Maxine Briggs Caraway, 59, wife of John Caraway Jr., died Wednesday, April 6, 2011, at her home at 1076 Carissa Lane in Manning. She's the daughter of Oscar Briggs and the late Juanita Butler Briggs and the stepdaughter of Carrie Lee Briggs. She was born March 11, 1952, in Alcolu. She received her formal education in the public schools of Clarendon School District 2 and F.E. DuBose Career Center. At an early age, she accepted Christ as her Savior and joined Rock Hill Missionary Baptist Church and, after marriage, she joined Cypress Fork A.M.E. Church. She was employed with Air Cap and, later, she worked at Gold Kist. She was preceded in death by five brothers and two sisters. Survivors are her husband, John Caraway Jr., of the home; her father and stepmother, Oscar (Carrie Lee) Briggs of Manning; one daughter, Mary (Terrence) Whitfield of Kingstree; one son, Timothy (Donetta) Caraway of Charlotte; a granddaughter reared as her own, Kaisha Caraway of the home; two stepsons, Harold McCants, and Torrey Thames of Columbia; two grandchildren reared as her own, Bralyn Caroway and Torrence Caroway; two sisters, Rev. Renelle Conyers and Mary Lawson, both of Manning; three brothers, Walter Briggs of Wilmington, N.C., Thomas (Joyce Ann) Briggs and Marcus Briggs, both of Manning; and Wilbur Lee Carter who was reared as a brother; mother-in-law, Daisy Caraway of Manning; four aunts, Rosa Carroway, Sing ( John) Carroway, Virginia Weeks, and Roxie Miller; 11 grandchildren and one great grandchild. Remains will be placed in the church at 1 p.m. with services beginning at 2 p.m Tuesday at Trinity A.M.E. Church at 39 W. Rigby St. in Manning. The Rev. Dr. James Stukes, Pastor, Rev. Deloris Gerow, Presiding, the Rev. Dr. Leroy Green, Eulogist, assisted by the Rev. Rufus Gaymon and the Rev. Otis Blackwell, the Rev. Jerome McCray. Burial will follow in the Cypress Fork A.M.E. Church Cemetery in Alcolu. Family receiving friends at the home of her mother-in-law, Daisy Caraway, 1863 Little Star Road in Manning. Online memorials maybe sent to www.samuelsfuneralhome.com. These services have been entrusted to Samuels Funeral Home LLC of Manning. Posted in Obituaries on Sunday, April 10, 2011 Shooting suspect formally charged Print Posted: Saturday, April 9, 2011 6:00 am | Updated: 11:45 pm, Fri Apr 8, 2011. Robert J. Baker bbaker@theitem.com MANNING - A man accused Wednesday of killing his 9-month-old son, the boy's great-grandmother and injuring the boy's mother with a shotgun will have to wait for a 3rd Circuit Court judge to set bond. Justin Jermaine Johnson, 21, of 2094 Rogers Road in Summerton, was formally charged Thursday with two counts of murder, one count of attempted murder, kidnapping, first-degree burglary and possession of a weapon during a violent crime after police said he confessed to killing his son, 9-month-old Jayden Caraway, and 59-year-old Maxine Briggs Caraway, and shooting girlfriend Kaisha Tiera Caraway in the shoulder at the victims' home on Carissa Lane in Manning. "I, as a magistrate, cannot set your bond," Clarendon County Magistrate Shayne Stephens told Johnson on Friday morning. "The 3rd Circuit Court judge will have to consider that and will do that at a later date." Clarendon County Sheriff Randy Garrett said Wednesday's tragedy began when the suspect went to the Caraway home without permission. "He and the girlfriend got into a dispute," Garrett said. Maxine Caraway called dispatch, but her call was dropped; when dispatch returned the call, she initially said nothing was wrong before telling dispatchers the man had left the home to get a gun. Garrett said Caraway was shot only moments later when she stepped outside her home. The shooter then walked back into the home. "He shot the baby in front of the mother, and when she tried to run, he shot at her," Garrett said. "He hit her in the shoulder, forced her and the 2-year-old (daughter) into the car and fled the scene." After the suspect flagged down a deputy responding to the earlier calls to tell him someone else had shot his son and the boy's great-grandmother, police escorted the couple back to the scene. "We were able to get them apart, and that's when the girlfriend told us everything," Garrett said. Family members of the victims were not present at Friday's hearing, during which Johnson sat silently as Stephens read through his charges, instructions on his preliminary hearing and questions regarding his understanding of the entire matter. Other than Johnson's unscheduled bond hearing in front of a Circuit Court judge, Johnson will next appear before a judge 8:30 a.m. May 9 during General Sessions court at the Clarendon County Courthouse. "You have a right and obligation to be present for that," Stephens said. "If you're not present, they will proceed in your absence and file bench warrants for your arrest." Johnson's only two audible words during Friday's hearing were a response to a question from Stephens about understanding the May 9 hearing. "I understand," he said, otherwise responding by nodding. Johnson's mother, who did not give her name, asked Stephens for permission to speak and said she wished to tell her son that Sean Kent of Coffee, Chandler and Kent will represent him. The Associated Press reported Thursday that Johnson had waived his rights to an attorney during initial police interrogation, during which he is alleged to have confessed. Samuels Funeral Home LLC of Manning is handling funeral arrangements for Maxine and Jayden Caraway. A service is scheduled for 2 p.m. Tuesday at Trinity AME Church, Rigby Street, Manning.   Reach Robert J. Baker at (803) 435-8511.   Timeline of Events - 5:06 p.m. Dec. 19, 2010 - Clarendon County Sheriff's deputies are dispatched to a home on 2088 Rogers Road in Summerton on an assault call. While en route, deputies learn from dispatch that Kaisha Caraway was taken by force from the home in his gray Hyundai. Johnson was the suspect. - About 5:30 p.m. Dec. 19, 2010 - A Department of Natural Resources officer notifies dispatch that a similar vehicle had just left John C. Land III landing, about 3.5 miles from the Summerton home. - 6 p.m. Dec. 19, 2010 - Deputies find Johnson at the landing after stopping the gray Hyundai, which the victim was now driving, and arrest him for criminal domestic violence of a high and aggravated nature and kidnapping. - Between Dec. 19, 2010, and Feb. 18 - Caraway tells 3rd Circuit Assistant Solicitor Amy Land that she will not cooperate with an investigation, nor will she testify in court to corroborate her initial statement taken when charges were filed in December. Land remands the case to Clarendon County Magistrate's Court, dismissing the kidnapping charge and lowering the criminal domestic violence charge to simple assault. Her story was reportedly corroborated by Caraway's sister, who is not identified in the police report. - Feb. 18 - Caraway fails to appear during a hearing on Johnson's simple assault charge; Johnson's case is dismissed. - Between Feb. 18 and late March - Johnson is released from jail. Records are unclear as to when he was released. - Early Wednesday morning - Johnson arrives at Maxine Caraway's home on Carissa Lane, a small road off June Burn Road about 7.5 miles east of downtown Manning. - 9:52 a.m. Wednesday - The first call comes into Clarendon County dispatchers; Maxine Caraway, described as "frantic," says there is a fight and that "(we) need assistance." The call is ultimately dropped. - Seconds later - When dispatchers call back, Maxine Caraway initially says that nothing is wrong and that a child was playing on the phone; several seconds later, she tells dispatchers that Kaisha Caraway and a man are fighting and that "he went outside to get a gun." - Between 9:53 and 10 a.m. - The man heads outside to retrieve a 12-gauge shotgun. Maxine Caraway is wounded and dies instantly from a single gunshot to the head, according to Clarendon County Coroner Hayes Samuels. The man re-enters the home with the shotgun and fires at 9-month-old Jayden Caraway at point-blank range, killing the infant instantly as he sits in his high chair eating breakfast. When Kaisha Caraway tries to flee, she's shot in the shoulder. At the same time, dispatchers have routed a sheriff's deputy out to the Caraway home to check on the previous calls. The man threatens Caraway's life and that of their 2-year-old daughter, forcing her into his vehicle and takes off west toward downtown Manning. -10 a.m. - Johnson, reports indicate, flags down the responding deputy at the intersection of U.S. 301 and June Burn Road, about three miles from the home. The suspect, reports say, tells the deputy that someone else had come into the house and shot at him and the rest of the family. The suspicious deputy escorts Johnson, Caraway and the couple's 2-year-old daughter back to the home. Deputies discover Maxine Caraway's and the infant's bodies and separate the couple, after which Caraway tells police that Johnson is the shooter. - About 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. - The Clarendon County Sheriff's Department closes down a four-mile stretch of June Burn Road, about two miles on either side of the crime scene, calling in the State Law Enforcement Division to help with forensic analysis. The victims' bodies are taken in for autopsy, which will be completed in Charleston. Caraway is taken to Clarendon Memorial Hospital, where she is treated for non life-threatening injuries and released at an unspecified time. - 6 p.m. - Sheriff Randy Garrett reopens June Burn Road, giving a press conference to media gathered at Little Star Pentecostal Church to say a suspect has been arrested and that the scene is clear. - Sometime after 11:30 p.m. - Johnson is taken to the Clarendon County Detention Center for booking. The jail releases a photo at 11:54 p.m. - 7 p.m. Thursday - Warrants are officially served charging Johnson with two counts of murder, one count of attempted murder, kidnapping, first-degree burglary and possession of a weapon during a violent crime. According to Associated Press reports, Johnson waived his right to an attorney during police interrogation and confessed to the slayings. - 9 a.m. Friday - Clarendon County Magistrate Judge Shayne Cooper denies Johnson bond, saying a judge from the 3rd Circuit Court will have to hear bond appeals on such serious charges. He sets a hearing for 8:30 a.m. May 9 at the Clarendon County Courthouse. Posted in Local news, News on Saturday, April 9, 2011 Jury: Johnson is guilty Clarendon man gets life in 2011 double murder MATT WALSH / THE SUMTER ITEM A handcuffed Justin Johnson watches his family weep outside after the verdict. Johnson was found guilty Thursday in the slayings of 9-month-old Jayden Caraway and the child's great-grandmother, Maxine Caraway. BY JIM HILLEY jim@theitem.com (803) 774-1211 "Your family asks for mercy," Circuit Court Judge Jeffrey Young told Justin Johnson shortly after a jury found him guilty in the shotgun murders of 9-month-old Jayden Caraway and the child's great-grandmother, Maxine Caraway, in a Manning residence on April 6, 2011. "You were shown mercy when the solicitor did not seek the death penalty in this case. "I will show you the same mercy you showed Jayden and Maxine Caraway," the judge said before Johnson received three consecutive life sentences plus 30 years. Johnson was also found guilty of kidnapping, burglary and the possession of a weapon in the commission of a violent crime. The jury found him not guilty of the attempted murder of Jayden's mother, Kaisha Caraway. "In a civil society, we are ingrained to protect and give aid to the young and the elderly," Young said. "To have a baby sitting in a high chair gunned down by your hand is absolutely beyond understanding. "It is my intention to sentence you to the maximum, and I have done that," Young said. "It is my intention to use the law of South Carolina to make sure you never walk among the citizens of this state again." Few who attended Johnson's trial will forget the image of baby Jayden Caraway slumped over in his high chair, his short life ended by a 12-gauge shotgun blast through his right eye, or the photos of Maxine Caraway, sprawled on her back next to her car, hair curlers spread in the grass by the force of the shot that took her life. The jury found that the victims were killed by Johnson after he and Kaisha Caraway argued over access to money in his bank account and allegations Jayden was not his son. Before the sentencing, public defender Scott Robinson echoed what the prosecution had said at the beginning of the trial. "There are no winners here; everybody has lost," he said. "Promising young people are either dead or facing prison." "This is not the Justin Johnson anybody knew; it was an isolated act, uncharacteristic of Justin Johnson." Solicitor Ernest "Chip" Finney III countered that the incident that led to the deaths was not the first time Johnson had had difficulties with the law. "This is not the first time he snapped," Finney said. "He has a temper he is unable to control." Emotions ran high in the courtroom after the verdict, especially among friends and family of the defendant. Johnson's mother sobbed into a handkerchief, and several of his supporters went outside the Clarendon County Administration Building to console each other. "It's a relief that it's over," Kaisha Caraway said. Members of the Caraway family spoke about Maxine Caraway before Young pronounced sentence. "A lot of people loved this person," Nell Conyers, Maxine Caraway's sister, said. "She never did anybody any harm. She knew how to encourage people and make people feel good. Now, I can't see her anymore." Mary Whitfield, Maxine Caraway's daughter, also spoke. "There are no winners," she said. "I lost my mom and my best friend. Mrs. Johnson still has a son, but she has lost her dreams for his future. I know Justin (Johnson), and my heart goes out to him." Robinson had no comment after the trial, but Finney said he was grateful for the service by the jury. "We are very humbled and appreciative of the jury's verdict. We know we put them through a lot. We feel the case was put together well by state and local law enforcement, and we were confident the jury would see that this young man had committed this crime and justice should be done." Posted in Local news, News on Friday, March 21, 2014
  _UID	C88478BE64044AFE96E47C41CD1BEB91CD25
  _UID	C88478BE64044AFE96E47C41CD1BEB91CD25
  Death	6 Apr 2011	at her home at 1076 Carissa Lane in Manning, South Carolina
  Burial	12 Apr 2011	Cypress Fork A.M.E. Church Cemetery, Alcolu, Clarendon County, South Carolina   [2]
  	Samuels Funeral Home LLC, Manning, South Carolina Samuels Funeral Home LLC, Manning, South Carolina
  Person ID	I222385	Singleton and Related Families
  Last Modified	12 Apr 2014

  
  

  Father	Oscar BRIGGS, Sr.
  Mother	Juanita BUTLER
  _UID	E102D09731B34EC3BC3DD6085B6988AF113A
  _UID	E102D09731B34EC3BC3DD6085B6988AF113A
  Family ID	F150462	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	John CARAWAY, Jr.
  _UID	8C938A5A7237479593130358A6186783314B
  _UID	8C938A5A7237479593130358A6186783314B
  Children	1. Kaisha Tiera CARAWAY
  Family ID	F150464	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	23 Mar 2026

  
  

• Sources

  [S10380] Johnnie Lee Briggs. [S15899] Maxine B. Caraway. [S20787] Jury: Johnson is guilty - Clarendon man gets life in 2011 double murder. [S15901] Shooting suspect formally charged.