CONWAY, SC (WBTW) – The man initially charged with the murder of a Conway taxi driver was sentenced Thursday to 30 years in prison.
Tranique Prinze Livingston was charged for the shooting death of 54-year-old David John Bennett. Bennett was found dead in his taxi van on Dillon Street in Conway in November of 2016.
During the hearing on Thursday, one of the victim’s daughters told the judge she and her family lost so much when her father died.
“Not only was he my dad, he was a kind stranger on the street helping others,” Julianne Bennett said. “We lost our dad, our best friend, our right-hand man, and our hero.”
Livingston pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter under the Alford plea, according to the 15th Circuit Solicitors Office. Under the Alford Plea, the person does not admit guilt but acknowledges a jury would likely convict them based on the evidence.
Though the solicitor negotiated a sentence between 25 and 30 years for the crime, Judge Steven H John sentenced Livingtson to 30 years. The judge also told Livingston he benefited from the negotiated plea deal because kidnapping and robbery charges filed in a separate, unrelated case were also being dismissed, the press release stated.
“We do believe Mr. Livingston to be a violent person,” Solicitor Jimmy Richardson said during the hearing. “I don’t believe he set out to kill Mr. Bennett, but I do believe he set out to commit an armed robbery. He did it in such a way that he took someone’s life.”