Anthony Duane Tiffany

A native of upstate New York, Anthony Duane Tiffany, a 31-year-old Caucasian man, had built a life for himself in South Carolina, working as the night manager of a Kentucky Fried Chicken in Spartanburg. Friends and family knew him as someone who enjoyed working on vehicles, riding four-wheelers, and fishing, especially ice fishing. But on the night of Friday, March 31, 2017, his life was cut short in a sudden and violent encounter.

The evening at the KFC on Cedar Springs Road was winding down when two masked men brandishing handguns entered the restaurant around 9:25 p.m. The assailants, later identified as Deadrian Depal Garcia and Jaquz Julius Freeman, were intent on robbery. They held four employees at gunpoint, creating a scene of terror within the fast-food establishment. Tiffany, as the manager on duty, was forced into the office. It was there, away from the immediate view of his employees, that he was shot three times in the chest and back.

Surveillance footage from the restaurant captured the brutal events, showing one of the robbers attempting to open the safe after shooting Tiffany. When the safe wouldn't open, the gunman was seen kicking the dying manager and emptying his pockets before fleeing. The Spartanburg Police Department and the Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office launched an intensive investigation into what was the fifth attempted robbery in the area in just six days. Investigators released images of the types of masks the suspects wore and indicated they might be driving an older model Nissan Altima with a paper license plate.

The breakthrough in the case came swiftly. Within a week, on April 7, 2017, authorities arrested Garcia and Freeman. A resident living near the KFC found a revolver and a mask wrapped in a black jacket, which matched the items seen in the security footage. Crucially, a DNA sample from the mask was a match to Freeman. A search of the home where both men lived uncovered the murder weapon, latex gloves, and a significant amount of cash. The arrests brought a measure of relief to Tiffany's grieving family and his girlfriend, Amber Hall, who was in New York preparing for his funeral. "I am so grateful that they are behind bars and they are going to pay for what they done to an innocent man," she said.

In the years that followed, the two men were brought to justice. In October 2018, Jyquez J. Freeman, who was identified as the accomplice, was found guilty of murder, armed robbery, four counts of kidnapping, and possession of a weapon during a violent crime. A judge sentenced him to 40 years in prison, with no possibility of parole. The man identified as the shooter, Deadrian Garcia, pleaded guilty to murder, armed robbery, and kidnapping charges. In November 2018, he was sentenced to 50 years in prison.

The case of Anthony Tiffany's murder is now closed, with both individuals responsible serving lengthy sentences. While it does not appear on Spartanburg County's list of unsolved homicides, it remains a stark reminder of the violent crime that impacted the community. In 2017, the city of Spartanburg experienced a notable number of violent offenses, contributing to its reputation at the time as a city with a high crime rate. The resolution of this case, however, stands as a testament to the diligent work of law enforcement in bringing the perpetrators to account for the senseless killing of a man remembered by his customers as always being "upbeat and smiling."