An Oconee County man who tried to kill several officers in 2023 was sentenced to over 180 years in prison today, announced Tenth Circuit Solicitor Micah E. Black.
Gregory Wayne Maxwell, 52, was convicted early Thursday evening of six (6) counts of Attempted Murder, and one count each of Possession of a Weapon During the Commission of a Violent Crime, Failure to Stop for a Blue Light, and Failing to Register a Vehicle.
Maxwell’s convictions stem from his actions on November 16, 2023, when a routine traffic stop over a fake license place tragically ended with Maxwell shooting Oconee County Sheriff’s Office Corporal Lucas Watts in what witnesses and investigators called “nothing short of an ambush.” Watts barely survived the gunshot wound to his head, and suffers severe long-term damage from the injury Maxwell inflicted on him. Maxwell also nearly killed another officer and his K9 partner during the ambush. Later, Maxwell returned to his residence and armed himself with an AR-15 style rifle before engaging in a second shootout with Pickens and Oconee County Deputies attempting to take him into custody.
After three (3) days of testimony and almost 200 exhibits (including several hours of body camera and dash camera footage) Oconee County jury deliberated for less than three (3) hours before returning the guilty verdicts. The Honorable R. Lawton McIntosh sentenced Maxwell to the maximum sentence on each charge, and ordered the sentences to be served consecutively with each other. In total, Maxwell was sentenced to 183 years and 30 days in prison.
Solicitor Black prosecuted the case for the State, with the assistance of Deputy Solicitor Josh Thomas, Investigator Mike Arflin, and Victim Advocate Brandi Davis. Maxwell, who considers himself a “sovereign citizen,” represented himself at trial. The case was investigated by the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office and Greenville Department of Public Safety, and Black praise the work of those agencies, in particular lead investigator Sergeant Blake Wolfe.
After the conviction and sentence, Solicitor Black made the following statement: “Lucas Watts’s life, and the life of his family, was changed forever on November 16, 2023, because of the selfish and depraved actions of Gregory Maxwell. Law enforcement in this case treated Maxwell with nothing but the utmost respect and professionalism, and in return he tried to take the life of Lucas and his colleagues. I could not be prouder to have stood in the courtroom this week with the brave men and women of the Oconee and Pickens County Sheriff’s Offices, as well as the investigators from Greenville County, as justice was served in this case. As the judge said at sentencing, Gregory Maxwell has no regard for the rule of law or the sanctity of human life. As the Watts family continues healing from this incident, I hope they can find some peace knowing the man responsible will spend the rest of his days behind bars.”