Flaunting Stupidity

There's 'lack of intelligence and common sense'.....and then there's just plain stupid.

Take North Charleston, South Carolina's Deandre Stevens, for instance.

The 20-year-old Stevens was arrested in connection to an armed robbery in the parking lot of a Walmart back on January 4 of 2016. He and two accomplices arranged to sell fake marijuana to 16-year-old Zarmell Polite in the parking lot, using the ruse to lure the juvenile and then rob him.

Surveillance video from the mega-store's security cameras show Stevens and his henchmen arriving in a car; a short time later, Polite shows up. Stevens and one of his sidekicks exit the car as Polite climbs in the back seat with the third man to do the deal.

Then it all goes south.

Polite is shown staggering out of the car, turning and firing a weapon into the vehicle's rear seat, killing would-be armed robber Larry Grayer, who was eighteen. Police investigators ruled Polite's actions as self-defense because Grayer had pulled a gun on Polite inside the car. 

Stevens and the remaining accomplice, 18-year-old Aliyah Young, were charged with armed robbery; They both also faced accessory-to-murder because Grayer died during their ill-fated crime. Stevens' bond was set at $200,000.

He posted bond. Then he took stupidity to a personal high-water mark.

Broadcasting on a Facebook livestream, Stevens used twenty minutes to threaten the brother of Zarmell Polite, referring to him as a snitch and pointing a handgun at the webcam. He also allegedly used drugs during the broadcast.

 Stevens also offered Xanax for sale on social media.

Using the social media video and screen captures from Stevens' less-than-stellar decision, prosecutors pressed Stevens' attorney, Bradford Andrews, for a 'guilty' plea to the armed robbery charge in exchange for a less-than-maximum prison term; Andrews argued in front of a judge for a ten-year sentence, citing his client's youth and lack of criminal history.

Armed robbery and accessory to murder. Go big or go home.

Deandre Stevens accepted the plea deal, supported by his family. He was sentenced to fifteen years in prison.

Deandre Stevens