A New York man will spend the rest of his life behind bars after he was found guilty this week of fatally shooting two friends in South Carolina — as three terrified kids watched.
Charles Saunders was found guilty Thursday of murder and possession of a weapon in the June 18, 2024 attack on Alesia Dykes, 40, and Bernard Alexander Lyles, 39, at the Walsh Drive Apartments in Hardeeville, about 30 minutes outside Savannah.
Saunders, 50 — who authorities said killed his friends after the trio got into an argument — was sentenced to life by District Judge Carmen T. Mullen.
Saunders and Dykes had been friends in New York.
Saunders had been staying with Dykes for weeks as he visited relatives in South Carolina, but had been arguing for days with her partner, Lyles, authorities said.
The fatal argument began outside the couples’ apartment building and when it turned physical, Dykes and Lyles tried retreating inside.
But Saunders blocked them in the doorway and fired off a 9mm handgun he pulled from his waistband — with three children watching as the chaos erupted.
One of the kids ran to a relative’s house to get help while Saunders ran.
Dykes died at the scene and Lyles was rushed to the hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
“[Saunders] chose to repay trust and hospitality with violence of the most horrendous sort,” said Prosecutor Trasi Campbell.
Cops arrested Saunders hours later at a nearby Waffle House.
Investigators discovered that Saunders had an extensive rap sheet of convictions in New York, including criminal use of a firearm and assault.
“Charles Saunders has lived a life of violence, and today’s outcome ensures he no longer endangers the public,” Campbell said on Thursday.
