The man who fired the fatal shots in a May 2018 shooting in Jonesville was acting in self-defense, prosecutors have said, and he will not be charged in relation to the death.

On May 13, Jonesville police found 38-year-old Kenneth Bruce George Jr., of Spartanburg, lying dead on the walkway leading to an Alman Street house with a bullet wound in his torso and leg.

Police said Qusay Yusus Thomas, 40, of 309 Alman St., fired the bullets that killed him.

John Anthony, a deputy solicitor with the 16th Circuit Solicitor’s Office, said the facts of the case indicate Thomas shot George to protect himself.

“Mr. Thomas reported that he was shot at by Mr. George first, and this occurred in Mr. Thomas’ home,” he said. “… So those two factors weigh pretty heavily toward self-defense, and there has not been anything in the investigation determined as of yet that would overturn those factors.”

Police found George had a .32-caliber revolver on him at the time of the shooting.

Jonesville Police Chief Carl Jennings said investigators determined the shooting happened when George and another man tried to rob Thomas after a drug deal at the residence, where Thomas lived.

“Someone came to Jonesville with Mr. George, driving Mr. George’s car, to solicit some illegal substances from Qusay Thomas,” Jennings said. “In the event of that transaction, they tried to rob him.”

Following the shooting, Thomas was charged with possession of a firearm during a violent crime, the unlawful sale or manufacture of liquor, and possession of an ounce or less of marijuana, first offense.

He was charged after police said they found marijuana and moonshine in his residence while investigating George's death, Anthony said. A little more than a week after his arrest, Thomas was released on a $7,500 bond, court records show.

Several days after George died, his car was found burned in Roebuck.

Jennings said investigators believe that on the night he died, George arrived at the Alman Street house in his 2004 Silver Lincoln LS V-6 with another man. After the shooting, Jennings said, police believe the man who George arrived with took the car and later set it on fire.

William Jones, 47, of Spartanburg, has been named as a person of interest in relation to the theft and arson.

Jennings said investigators with the State Law Enforcement Division interviewed Jones shortly after the shooting, but have not been able to locate him since.