Decades after killing teen SC man shot another person in face, prosecutor says

Decades after he killed a teenager, a South Carolina man is going to prison after recently getting convicted of murdering a 53-year-old, according to the 8th Circuit Solicitor’s Office.

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In addition to murder, Newberry resident David Ray Clark was found guilty of unlawful possession of a firearm by a person convicted of certain offenses following a trial at the Newberry County Courthouse, the solicitor’s office said in a news release. The jury deliberated for about 25 minutes before returning the guilty verdicts on Aug. 26, according to the release.

Circuit Judge Jane Merrill sentenced Clark to life in prison without the possibility of parole on the murder charge and 5 years in prison on the weapons charge, the solicitor’s office said.

The convictions stem from a September 2025 incident, where Clark shot and killed 53-year-old Dexter Gary with a single gunshot to the face following an argument that stemmed from jealousy over the mother of Clark’s 3-year-old son, according to the release. The child was present and witnessed the shooting, the solicitor’s office said.

After the shooting, Clark ordered the woman to take Gary’s phone and keys before the two left the scene in Gary’s vehicle, according to the release. Clark later disposed of the murder weapon by giving it to his brother in Chapin, the solicitor’s office said.

The woman was eventually able to call 911 after Clark fell asleep in the vehicle, according to the release.

Clark was taken into custody in Chapin and gave investigators several conflicting accounts of the shooting before eventually admitting that he shot Gary, the solicitor’s office said.

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Clark has a previous conviction for voluntary manslaughter stemming from the 1989 stabbing death of a 15-year-old which, coupled with this new conviction, made him eligible for the life-without-parole sentence under South Carolina’s recidivist law, according to the release.

“David Clark has now senselessly taken two lives, more than three decades apart, and has proven that he has no regard for human life,” Solicitor David Stumbo said in the release. “I am thankful for the hard work of our prosecutors and law enforcement partners in making sure this violent killer will not leave prison until the day he leaves this earth.”

The case was investigated by the Newberry Police Department, with assistance from the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department and Newberry County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputy Solicitor Taylor Daniel, along with assistant solicitors Whitney Taylor and Bret Price led the prosecution, according to the release. Attorney William Hodge was Clark’s lawyer, Newberry County court records show.