Deyonis Green-Wyatt

Deyonis Green-Wyatt, a 22-year-old Black man from the Charleston, South Carolina, area, was a beloved son and sibling whose life was cut short by gun violence in the fall of 2023. Known to his loved ones, he was remembered in a service at the Calvary Church of God in Christ in Goose Creek before being laid to rest on October 31, 2023. His passing left a deep void in the lives of his parents, siblings, and extended family.

The fatal encounter occurred around 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, October 21, 2023, in North Charleston. The incident unfolded near the busy intersection of Cosgrove Avenue and the eastbound ramp to Interstate 26. Investigators later determined that a red Jeep Grand Cherokee had been following Green-Wyatt’s vehicle in the moments leading up to the shooting. An altercation took place after a passenger from the Jeep exited the vehicle and got into a fight with Green-Wyatt. During this confrontation, Deyonis was shot. He was rushed to the Medical University of South Carolina, but he ultimately succumbed to a gunshot wound.

The North Charleston Police Department immediately launched a homicide investigation. Officers secured the vehicle that had transported Green-Wyatt to the hospital as part of their initial evidence collection. Detectives utilized surveillance video from the area to trace the movements of the suspect vehicle, the red Jeep Grand Cherokee. A few hours after the shooting, police attempted to conduct a traffic stop on the Jeep. The driver refused to stop, leading to a crash, after which the driver fled the scene on foot. Inside the abandoned vehicle, police discovered three cellphones, one of which was later identified as belonging to Deandre Dewayne Broughton.

This evidence became a crucial link in the investigation. Less than a month later, on November 17, 2023, police located and arrested Broughton. He was initially charged with murder in connection with Deyonis Green-Wyatt's death. Broughton’s attorney later argued that his client had been driving a passenger who got out and fought with Green-Wyatt, and that Broughton drove away from the scene without his passenger after the shot was fired.

As the case proceeded through the legal system, the initial murder charge against Broughton was dropped. Instead, he entered a guilty plea to a lesser charge of accessory after the fact to murder. According to court documents, this plea was determined to "better fit the facts of the case." Broughton was also facing a separate, unrelated murder charge from a 2022 incident, which was also dropped as part of a plea deal that included a guilty plea to a drug distribution violation. With his plea in the Green-Wyatt case, the legal proceedings against Broughton were concluded.

The case highlights the persistent challenge of gun violence in the community and the complex nature of criminal investigations. While an arrest and a conviction were secured, the resolution left the family and community to grapple with the loss of a young man just beginning his adult life. The investigation pieced together a sequence of events through modern technology and police work, but the central tragedy remains the violent and premature death of Deyonis Green-Wyatt. As of the latest reports, the case against Deandre Broughton is considered closed.