FLORENCE COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) — A man convicted of killing an 80-year-old Nichols woman in March 2021 was sentenced Thursday to life in prison by a federal judge in Florence.
Dominique Brand will serve 120 months consecutively. He was found guilty on all counts in September in the killing of retired school teacher Mary Ann Elvington.
Brand killed Elvington after kidnapping her from her home in Nichols and holding her at gunpoint in her car and forcing her to drive to North Carolina. That led to the case being prosecuted in federal court.
Everett McMillian, Assistant U.S. Attorney, said Brand now gets to pay for his crimes.
“You can choose your sentence, but you can’t choose your consequences,” McMillian said. “But I think it just goes to show that in this case, Mr. Brand got to make certain choices but today, those choices had consequences. And the consequences are he’s going to spend his life in prison.”
15th Circuit Solicitor Jimmy Richardson said the case served as a good example on the importance of federal and state agencies maintaining good relationships.
“The truly horrific nature of this case demonstrates how important developing our solid partnerships with other state and federal agencies is in solving crimes and holding those who commit them responsible to account for their actions,” Richardson said in a news release.
Marion County Sheriff Brian Wallace talked about how what happened to Elvington was personal to him.
“The kidnapping and subsequent murder of Mary Ann Elvington rocked not only our community, but my department. When you work where you live, it is difficult to avoid cases in which you personally know the families you serve,” Wallace said in the release. “We pray that today’s sentencing will bring much-needed closure to the Elvington family and open the door for healing for all of us.”
Prosecutors said Brand later returned to South Carolina with Elvington and shot and killed her with a shotgun behind an abandoned grocery store at the Zion Crossroad in Marion County. He then took Elvington’s 2012 Buick LaCross and abandoned it in a wooded area behind a nightclub in Marion.
Brand later turned himself into authorities in Marion County.
