Background: News footage of the scene in December 2024 at Budiman’s smoke shop in Rock Hill, S.C. (WBTV). Inset: News footage of suspect Zachary Elias in court on Sept. 15 (WSOC).
A South Carolina man, charged with killing two people, remains detained as his lawyer argues that drug-laced “candy” is responsible for his alleged actions.
Zachary Elias, 28, is facing multiple charges, including two murder counts linked to a December 2024 shooting at Budiman’s smoke shop in Rock Hill, SC. As reported by The Herald, a judge denied bail for Elias again, despite defense claims that the incident was caused by psychedelic chocolate, not Elias himself, having consumed it earlier that day.
The judge sided with prosecutors and surviving family members of the people Elias allegedly killed and ordered him to remain in jail until trial.
Elias’ lawyer, Alexandra Benevento, asserts Elias was unaware of the intensity of the effects from the $32 chocolate bar he purchased from Budiman’s. Branded as a “Wavy Wafer Chocolate Bar,” it reportedly contained the illegal drug psilocin, which was not disclosed on the packaging.
Benevento argued before Judge Bill McKinnon, “We’re discussing a chocolate bar, your honor, essentially candy,” emphasizing, “The real threat is that these products, these chocolates, are even being sold.”
Elias allegedly had both psilocin, which is a chemical found in hallucinogenic mushrooms, and THC in his system the day of the shooting.
State prosecutor Kevin Brackett highlighted that Elias willingly spent $32 on a chocolate bar with the intent to “alter his reality.” Brackett noted Elias’ frequent visits to Budiman’s, receiving discounts, and spending $180 on drug-laced chocolates and THC gummies the day of the incident, having consumed a similar bar earlier that week.
Brackett told McKinnon, “This was an intentional act on his part with tragic consequences.”
Video of the shooting that was played in court reportedly showed Elias entering the store with an assault rifle as he shouted, “Where’s the mushroom man?” He then allegedly opened fire on everyone inside the store, including a store clerk, 27-year-old Celcei Johnson, and 49-year-old Emad Thabet Saadalla, a customer, who both died of gunshot wounds. Saadalla was there with his wife, who was also wounded in the gunfire.
Elias can also be heard on the video proclaiming, “I’m Jesus Christ. They wrote the book about me.”
He did not speak during his court appearance on Monday.
Benevento argued that Elias was driven by a “drug-induced psychosis,” and it was not malicious intent that caused her client to come back to Budiman’s with a firearm, but that it was “that psychosis that took him back to the store.”
McKinnon did not give the defense the benefit of the doubt. After hearing from both sides, he told the court, “If this were alcohol, and somebody who was a lightweight drinker and drank a beer or two occasionally, and they drank a whole bottle of vodka and killed two people and wounded a third, that would not make me think they were less dangerous.”
The judge added, “The defendant voluntarily ingested a product which describes itself as magic mushroom chocolate.”
Elias is charged with two counts of murder, two counts of attempted murder, and several weapons possession charges. After the judge’s ruling, Elias will remain in custody at York County Jail without bond. A trial date has not been scheduled.
