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South Carolina Man Sentenced to 40 Years After Shooting at Officer, Then Killing Woman

David Beaufort was sentenced to 40 years after a jury convicted him of murder, attempted murder and an illegal weapons charge in a Dec. 16, 2021 incident in North Charleston. Prosecutors say he fired four shots at Officer Jamie Sylvester as first responders entered a home, then fatally shot a woman who had called 911 believing he was overdosing. Medical evaluators ruled he could distinguish right from wrong, and his insanity plea was rejected. The jury also rejected his self-defense claim following a nearly four-day trial that began Nov. 3.

04:44 PM, 11/24/2025Society
South Carolina Man Sentenced to 40 Years After Shooting at Officer, Then Killing Woman

A South Carolina man was sentenced to 40 years in prison after a jury convicted him of murder, attempted murder and an illegal weapons charge for a December 2021 attack in North Charleston.

Prosecutors say David Beaufort fired four times at Officer Jamie Sylvester and then fatally shot a woman who had called 911 after she believed Beaufort was overdosing. Body-worn camera audio captured the woman screaming as first responders entered the home on Dec. 16, 2021. Officer Sylvester survived the shooting.

Investigators said the woman and Beaufort had recorded a consensual sexual encounter minutes earlier. The 911 call ended after Beaufort was heard asking the woman to call his mother. When emergency medical technicians arrived, Beaufort told them he had been drinking Everclear and smoking marijuana laced with cocaine.

Beaufort initially entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, but medical evaluators determined he had the capacity to understand moral and legal right from wrong. He later argued self-defense at trial, but a jury rejected that claim and found him guilty after a nearly four-day trial that began Nov. 3. Sentencing details were released on Nov. 10.

Solicitor Scarlett A. Wilson: “We recently secured several convictions in cases involving violence against women. Brave officers like Jamie Sylvester also suffer at the hands of these batterers. Thankfully, Officer Sylvester survived, but this madness must stop.”

The victim’s name has not been released. Beaufort will serve four decades behind bars for the shooting that wounded an officer and cost a woman her life.

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