Kelbrez Antrial Stringer (Seventh Circuit Solicitor’s Office). Background: The Spartanburg County Courthouse (Google Maps).
A South Carolina man, aged 24, has been sentenced to a lengthy prison term for attempting to murder his girlfriend, firing over 40 shots at her following an altercation over his alleged infidelity involving her car.
On Wednesday, Circuit Court Judge Patrick C. Fant, III, sentenced Kelbrez Antrial Stringer to a 35-year term in a state correctional facility. The sentencing followed a jury’s decision, which found Stringer guilty of attempted murder, illegal possession of a weapon during a crime, shooting into a dwelling, and firing into an occupied vehicle, as per prosecutors.
The Office of the Seventh Circuit Solicitor reported in a press release that on April 17, 2023, Stringer borrowed his girlfriend’s car while she was at work. After her shift ended, he used the same car to pick her up. During their journey home to Cowpens, located in Spartanburg County, Stringer’s girlfriend received a call from another woman, accusing him of infidelity earlier that day, allegedly using her car for the rendezvous.
This revelation led to a heated argument between the couple. Upon reaching Cowpens, the girlfriend insisted that Stringer leave the vehicle so she could drive home alone, as detailed in the release. As she began to drive away, Stringer reportedly fired a handgun at her vehicle over 40 times.
Authorities revealed that some shots hit a nearby house, while nine struck the girlfriend’s car. Unfortunately, one bullet hit her in the neck. Despite her injuries, she managed to distance herself from Stringer and call 911 for help.
Emergency responders quickly arrived and transported the injured woman to Spartanburg Regional Medical Center for urgent medical treatment.
In an interview with investigators, Stringer initially claimed that an “unknown person” had been following the couple and then “shot at him while he ran away.” However, an eyewitness testified at trial that only one car — the one belonging to Stringer’s girlfriend — was the only vehicle on the road at the time of the shooting.
Prosecutors said Stringer had previously been convicted on charges of breach of peace, petit larceny, and assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, among other crimes. Prior to the start of his trial for shooting his girlfriend, Stringer pleaded guilty in a separate case to charges of being a convicted felon in possession of a weapon. He was sentenced to five years in prison, with the sentence running concurrent to his 35-year sentence.
“The victim was brave to face her attacker in open court and fight to make sure this dangerous person would go to prison for a long time,” Assistant Solicitor Eddie Hunter, who prosecuted the case said in a statement.
