A Prosperity man was sentenced Monday to 33 years in prison after pleading guilty to multiple charges, including the killing a K-9 officer while Newberry County deputies and SLED agents were attempting to serve warrants for a burglary, 8th Circuit Solicitor David M. Stumbo announced Tuesday.
James Robert Peterson, 38, of Prosperity, pleaded guilty Monday afternoon to one count of first-degree burglary, three counts of attempted murder and one count each of cruelty to a police dog or horse and resisting arrest with a deadly weapon. Circuit Judge William McMaster then sentenced Peterson to 28 years in prison on each of the burglary and attempted murder charges and 10 years in prison on the resisting arrest charge, with all those sentences to be served concurrently. Judge McMaster, at the request of the State, then sentenced Peterson to five years in prison on the cruelty to a police dog charge—the current maximum sentence for that charge under state law—with that sentence to be served consecutively.
In the nighttime hours of May 24, 2024, Peterson broke into a residence in the Prosperity community while the homeowner was at work. The homeowner observed Peterson on a Ring camera positioned by the door of the home. Newberry deputies were able to identify Peterson from his distinctive tattoos and previous experience dealing with Peterson.
On the morning of June 11, 2024, deputies received information that Peterson was at his mother’s residence on Gravel Lane in Prosperity. Due to prior knowledge of Peterson resisting arrest, investigators called in the State Law Enforcement Division K-9 Team to assist in serving the warrants. After multiple commands from law enforcement to Peterson to exit the residence with his hands up, SLED K-9 officer Coba made entry into the residence to disable and extract Peterson. Peterson had a shotgun in his left hand and fatally shot K-9 Coba, who was directly in the line of fire between Peterson and the three officers in the doorway—two agents of the SLED K-9 unit and a supervising deputy of the Newberry County Sheriff’s Office. The officers returned fire, striking Peterson. K-9 Coba died from his wounds a short time later.
Solicitor Stumbo handled the case for the state, with assistance from Deputy Solicitor Taylor Daniel and 8th Circuit Investigator Jeremiah Sinclair. Peterson was represented by Chelsea McNeill and Tristan Shaffer of the 8th Circuit Public Defender’s Office.
Solicitor Stumbo praised the work of his staff along with the numerous law enforcement officers from multiple agencies involved with this case, particularly SLED Lt. Keith Thrower and Special Agent Cole Powell (Coba’s handler), along with Newberry County Lt. Michael Claytor, who put themselves in harm’s way to do their jobs in this tragic incident.
While Solicitor Stumbo is thankful for the conviction and long prison sentences, he called on the state legislature to increase the penalty for killing a police K-9 in the line of duty.
“James Peterson is a career criminal and I am thankful that he will be spending most, if not all of, his remaining years on earth behind bars,” Solicitor Stumbo said following the sentencing. “We are very fortunate that we did not lose additional officers in this incident, and I, along with (Newberry County) Sheriff (Lee) Foster and (SLED) Chief (Mark) Keel, call on the South Carolina General Assembly to increase the penalty for killing a K-9 officer in the line of duty. Coba nobly served and gave his life for the citizens of our State, and I firmly believe the sentence for such a sacrifice should be higher than five years in prison.”
