By HEATHER WALTERS
A 45-year-old Walterboro man has been found guilty of murder. Jermaine S. White, 45, was found guilty of the 2018 shooting death of Lennon Lee Poland. The guilty verdict was handed down during General Sessions Court last week, in Walterboro. White has been sentenced to 35 years in prison. His sentence came after a jury deliberated for about 20 minutes.
“Jermaine White rushed Mr. Poland and shot him without provocation,” said Reed Evans, a prosecutor with the Fourteenth Circuit Solicitor’s Office. Evans prosecuted the case against White. “Mr. Poland’s death was savage and calculated, and the defendant got the verdict he deserved.”
According to information provided by the Fourteenth Circuit Solicitor’s Office, Poland was sitting with friends at a house on Francis Street at about 3:40 p.m. on July 15, 2018. White then ran out of a nearby wooded area, pointed a gun at the back of Poland’s head and shot him, behind the right ear. White then fled on foot and left in a car that he parked a short distance from the shooting incident.
Poland, who was still conscious when law enforcement officers arrived, identified White as the shooter. Additionally, a shell casing found feet from where Poland was shot matched a firearm that was later recovered from White’s house. Poland died nine days later from the gunshot wound he sustained on July 15th and White was subsequently charged with murder. According to the solicitor’s office, White has an extensive criminal history that dates back to 1993. His convictions include burglary, possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine, carjacking, armed robbery, failure to stop for blue lights and for being a felon in possession of a weapon.
