By Betsy Finklea
The sentencing of Damien Inman, who was one of three defendants charged in the August 2009 murder of 75-year-old Mary Alice Stutts, was held today in the Dillon County Judicial Center.

Inman, now 23, had a retrial in June where he was found guilty of murder, burglary, kidnapping, armed robbery, conspiracy, and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime. He was sentenced at that time to 30 years for armed robbery, five years consecutive for conspiracy, and five years consecutive for possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime; however, due a recent S.C. Supreme Court ruling (Aiken v. Byars) and Inman’s age of 17 at the time of the murder, the sentencing on the burglary and murder were delayed until today, Thursday, October 29th.
After a lengthy hearing, Judge Paul Burch sentenced Inman to natural life on the burglary first degree and natural life on the murder to run concurrent.
The Dillon Herald had the only reporter in the courtroom for today’s proceeding so get all of the details that you can’t get anywhere else in this coming Tuesday’s issue.