St. Helena convicted murderer gets 40 years for ‘execution-style’ killing of HHI student

Following a number of emotional pleas for leniency from the defendant’s family and for the maximum punishment from the victim’s loved ones, a judge on Monday morning sentenced convicted murderer Terrance Wing to 40 years in prison for the December 2019 killing of Hilton Head star soccer player and academic standout Trey Blackshear.

Wing, 20, received 35 years for the murder charge and five years for a related firearms offense. He will receive credit for 794 days previously served in the Beaufort County jail and Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ), said Circuit Court Judge Carmen T. Mullen, bringing his total remaining sentence to just under 37 years.

A Beaufort County jury found Wing guilty Thursday morning of murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime. He was 16 at the time of the deadly shooting but would be tried and punished as an adult , a judge ruled about a year after the incident.

Trial proceedings for the second defendant, 21-year-old Lady’s Island resident Xavier Da’Quan Barnes, have not yet been scheduled. Prosecutors believe Barnes and Wing fired the fatal bullets as part of an armed robbery on Dec. 23, 2019 during a marijuana deal in Blackshear’s car, which was parked outside the Lord of Life Lutheran Church in Bluffton.

Barnes was called to the witness stand on Tuesday. He denied having a weapon at the time of the shooting but testified he saw Wing put a gun to the back of Blackshear’s head and open fire.

The 18-year-old Blackshear was killed four days after his early graduation from Hilton Head Island High School. Friends and family remember the teen for his humor, youthful wisdom and “strong ability to put a smile on faces,” his obituary says.

‘No one wins in this’

Prior to Wing’s sentencing, 14th Circuit Assistant Solcitior Trasi Campbell, who prosecuted the case, spoke to the judge about the defendant’s flouting of bond conditions in the years since his initial arrest.

Campbell said Wing violated the conditions of his bond twice before a March 2023 bench warrant ultimately sent him back to the Beaufort County jail: once for a “violation involving firearms” in July 2021, when new bond restrictions were added by the court, and again upon his October 2022 arrest for firearms and narcotics in Georgia. Wing’s 2022 charges were dismissed after a co-defendant “took responsibility” for the weapons and drugs, Campbell added.

“So the state of South Carolina cannot say that this defendant has a criminal record,” Campbell said, “but the state can say that his behavior while on bond did not represent good behavior.”

Four people spoke to Mullen from the left side of the courtroom gallery, where many of Blackshear’s friends and family gathered to request a substantial sentence.

David Mouser, Blackshear’s grandfather, asked the judge to grant Wing a life sentence without the possibility of parole, arguing the defendant’s “gang-style mentality” — as seen in his “horrific, execution-style murder” — could lead to more deaths in the future.

“Your Honor, my heart is not really full of vengeance,” Mouser said. “It respects the rule of law, demanding accountability, and reminds us we must be prudent in our responsibility to protect lives not yet taken by murderers like Terrance Wing.”

Mary Corey, Blackshear’s mother, used a short speech to express sympathy for the defendant’s family but also underscored the permanence of her son’s death.

“No one wins in this,” Corey said. “I’m not happy that another young man is going to prison. I know the pain that (Wing’s mother) and his family feel. I don’t wish this on them or us. But I’m not getting Trey back in 45 years or 50 years. I’m not having grandchildren.”

Jared Newman, a Port Royal defense attorney who represents Wing, emphasized the difficulty of adjudicating juveniles’ actions but asked Mullen to consider his client’s age at the time of the shooting. He noted that Wing, who has a 1-year-old child, was evaluated during his time at the DJJ and was found to be “subject to rehabilitation.”

Wing also earned his high school diploma amid his yearlong custody at the DJJ, said Sheryl Wing, the defendant’s aunt. “He is not a menace to society. He’s a person capable of growth and redemption if given the option,” she said Monday morning, asking the judge to consider “alternatives to incarceration that prioritize rehabilitation.”

Judge Mullen told the courtroom she weighed a “number of factors” in deciding the sentencing: the maturity of the defendant, the “impetuosity” of teenagers and the failure to recognize consequences of their actions, which she said “describes all four of the young men that showed up in that car to buy or sell $60 worth of drugs, all armed.”

Mullen added it was “almost a miracle” that the approximately dozen shots fired inside Blackshear’s small sedan only killed one person. “Mr. Newman is correct: These are not easy cases,” she said. “And I think it behooves us as grown-ups to teach (young defendants) that drugs are dangerous and guns can kill.”

Beaufort County judicial records indicate Wing and his attorney appealed the two convictions around 11:30 a.m. Monday, less than an hour after his sentencing.