A man who said there were no excuses for the brutal murder he committed in Newberry County in the spring of 2007, begged the court to deduct his life sentence yesterday. This was a

drastic change from the man who told the court in February 2008 he would take whatever sentence was given to him.

Demetrius Myshawn Pepper, 26, of Greenville, was sentenced to life in prison without parole in the March 31, 2007 murder of retired educator Ellie Halfacre.

When he pleaded guilty a-year-and-a-half-ago, Pepper told the Halfacre family, “There is no excuse for what I did. I decided whatever sentence you wanted I would go for. I have asked God to forgive me... If I had more to give I would. I would keep giving.“

But yesterday Pepper said life in prison was no life at all, and asked for post conviction relief. “Post conviction relief” means Pepper was asking for a reduced sentenced.

His request was denied.

On that spring morning in 2007, Pepper’s boss at a Greenville convenience store called him into work. Pepper went in, but shot his female boss in the face and took money from the store. He then went in search of his father, who, with other family members, were watching his brother play in a spring football game at the University of South Carolina.

But on the way from Greenville to Columbia, Pepper’s car broke down on I-26 and he walked to Leonard and Ellie Halfacre’s frontage road home.

Ellie Halfacre was at home recovering from back surgery but answered her door and went to get a phone for Pepper to call for help. But on the way Pepper pulled a gun on the beloved teacher. Ellie Halfacre asked the young man what was wrong and what she could do to help him.

As she handed him her car keys, Pepper shot the retired woman in the head, then left in her car.

Sheriff Lee Foster said there was a car in the Halfacre’s yard with the keys inside.

Pepper then drove to the Carolina ballgame and tracked down his parents. He tearfully told them of his actions and they called to report the murder.

After the shooting, Leonard Halfacre called to check on his wife. When he did not get an answer he called his daughter to go check on her. The daughter, with her children in the car, went to her parents’ house and found her mother dead.

A year later, former Newberry resident and Circuit Judge Ernest Kinard accepted Pepper’s negotiated plea in an emotional hearing.

Pepper was also sentenced to life for burglary, 30 years for armed robbery and five years for grand larceny and possession of a firearm during the commission of a violent crime.

In what was another emotional day for the Halfacre family, yesterday Pepper chose to have his case re-examined, but his request for less than life in prison was rejected.

“It sure beats being without the life he took from Ms. Halfacre and the Halfacre family,“ said Foster of Pepper’s hearing results.

As Pepper was returned to the state penitentiary, Foster added the request was “over for now, but he does have other avenues for appeal.”