CONWAY, SC (WBTW) – About one hour after a Conway jury convicted Heather Causey-Sims of voluntary manslaughter in the 2013 death of her husband, David Sims, Jr., the judge in the case sentenced Causey-Sims to 25 years, which was suspended to 10 years of actual jail time with five years of probation following her release from prison.
Causey-Sims must serve 85 percent of the 10 year sentence, according to the judge, and is then eligible for parole, which would coincide with the five years of probation.
After deliberating for about six hours, the jury decided Causey-Sims killed her husband inside their home in 2013 following an argument, but did not have enough evidence to convict the Conway woman of murder. Family and friends of both Causey-Sims and David Sims, Jr. remain in the courtroom following the verdict as the judge speaks to the jury.
Upon the judge’s return to the courtroom, David Sims’ mother read a statement to the judge.
“As I said on the stand yesterday, I knew she was planning to kill him, and she did,” voiced Sims’ mother, who requested the “maximum sentence for such a heinous crime.”
After nine days of testimony, the trial against Causey-Sims was given to the jury to decide just after 1 p.m. Friday. A voluntary manslaughter conviction carries a possible jail sentence on one to 30 years.
15th Judicial Circuit Solicitor Jimmy Richardson says the jury had three options when considering Causey-Sims’ actions, keeping in mind, the group of 12 did not have to find the defendant guilty of anything.
The jury had the option of a murder conviction, which carries 30 years to life in prison. They could find Causey-Sims guilty of voluntary manslaughter, which carries a sentence of one to 30 years behind bars, or the jury could have convicted Causey-Sims of involuntary manslaughter with zero to five years as the possible jail time.
David Sims Jr., 35, who owned an irrigation and concrete company in Florence, died after being shot. His wife, Heather, a certified nurse anesthetist, was convicted of murder.
The incident happened on August 11, 2013 when Horry County Police were called to the couple’s home on Old Reaves Ferry Rd. in reference to a shooting and stabbing.
“Upon [police] arrival, they located a female that sustained wounds from a sharp object and a male that was deceased from an apparent gunshot wound,” police said in a press release. “Detectives learned that the male and female got into an altercation. During the altercation, the female was injured with a sharp object and the male was shot.”
Over the course of nine days, the jury was presented with DNA evidence from the crime scene, text messages concerning the topics of divorce and life insurance sent from Causey-Sims to her husband, and expert witnesses who took the stand for both the defense and the prosecution.
Prosecutor Nancy Livesay called Horry County Police Department Evidence Supervisor Laurie Dudley to the stand. Dudley used a software called Cellebrite to search Heather Sims’ cell phone. Dudley used search terms like “David” and “Divorce” to find certain messages.
Text messages presented in court from Heather Causey-Sims’ phone:
“I am. Divorce is not an option. It may b for him. But we r going to sort this out. Just makes me feel so bad because you’re right…This should be the happiest time for us!”
After using the keyword “life insurance,” Dudley found text messages Heather sent to her husband, David Sims, a few months before his death.
Text messages presented in court from Heather Causey-Sims’ phone:
“I don’t mean to talk about it all the time, but I want everything in place so that we can make sure that everything is taken care of.”
Dudley also searched David Sims’ cell phone, which officers recovered days after the incident. Dudley testified that the phone had been restored to factory settings and wiped clean of information.
Officers found David Sims lying on his back with the knife in his hand that August evening. Causey-Sims claims he came at her with a sharp object. According to SLED Forensic DNA Analyst Adrian Riley Hefney, both sides of the handle of the knife tested positive for David’s DNA.
The knife’s blade had a mixture of both Heather and David’s DNA, with Heather listed as the major contributor.
Lastly, Forensic Pathologist Dr. Kimberly Collins spoke. Dr. Collins testified that Sims’ wounds were defensive, not self-inflicted. She also said the puncture wound in Sims’ stomach could’ve been serious, had it penetrated the abdominal wall.
David Sims Jr. was born in Florence and was a 1996 graduate of South Florence High School.
