On a September night in 1992, 23-year-old York County Sheriff’s Deputy James Brent McCants was killed during a routine traffic stop on Dave Lyle Boulevard in Rock Hill, South Carolina. A United States Army veteran, McCants had been with the sheriff’s office for two months after about a year and a half with the Rock Hill Police Department.

The vehicle’s two occupants, later identified as Dwayne Eric Forney and Mar-Reece Hughes, had reportedly carjacked and stolen the car in Charlotte, North Carolina, about two hours before the stop. During the traffic stop Deputy McCants was shot; the two men fled and abandoned the stolen car nearby. A manhunt involving more than 100 officers from multiple York County agencies led to the suspects’ capture within hours.

Both Forney and Hughes were convicted of McCants’ murder. After a 1994 trial Forney received life in prison; Hughes, identified as the shooter, was convicted and sentenced to death in 1995. A portion of Dave Lyle Boulevard near Interstate 77 has been renamed the Deputy James Brent McCants Memorial Boulevard.

Did anyone in the Rock Hill area at the time have observations about the night that could still help clarify what happened?