A South Carolina judge sentenced a couple to decades in prison for a violent 2023 robbery that escalated into murder — a crime prosecutors say unfolded while the pair’s two infant children sat in the backseat of their getaway car.
On Friday, the Ninth Circuit Solicitor’s Office announced that Judge William McMaster sentenced Jaimen Quavere Tisdale to 55 years in prison after a Charleston County jury convicted him of murdering 25-year-old Miqueas Lopez. His co-defendant, Mariah McAteer, received a 15-year sentence after entering a guilty plea.
The case traces back to a July 13, 2023, incident outside a North Charleston convenience store. Prosecutors say Tisdale and McAteer saw Lopez and his three friends cashing their paychecks, then targeted them and followed their vehicle for over ten minutes to find an opportunity to rob them.
During the pursuit and the attack that followed, the couple’s two infants remained in the backseat of their vehicle.
When the confrontation unfolded, investigators say Tisdale jumped out of the passenger side with an assault rifle. As Lopez tried to drive away to escape the ambush, Tisdale opened fire on the vehicle. MUSC Pathologist Dr. Erin Presnell testified that Lopez died from a close-range gunshot wound to the head. Lopez’s brother and cousin, who were also inside the vehicle, survived.
Detectives with the North Charleston Police Department reviewed city surveillance footage to track the couple’s movements and arrested them within hours of the shooting.
After three days of testimony, a jury found Tisdale guilty of murder, possession of a weapon during a violent crime, three counts of attempted armed robbery, and two counts of unlawful conduct toward a child.
McAteer pleaded guilty on December 1 to accessory after the fact to murder, along with the robbery and child neglect charges.
“This was a targeted act of depravity that resulted in the loss of an innocent life,” Assistant Solicitor Cassity Brewer said in a statement. Brewer and Assistant Solicitor Jordan Norvell prosecuted the case.