JASPER COUNTY, SC.- A former federal inmate has been charged with helping destroy evidence of the murder of the wife of a Fort Stewart soldier, and then lying to investigators and grand jurors in the case.
Devin Ryan, 30, of Hardeeville, S.C., has been indicted by the U.S. District Court grand jury on charges of Obstruction of Justice, Use of Fire in Commission of a Federal Felony, and False Declarations Before a Grand Jury, said Bobby L. Christine, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. The combined charges carry a possible penalty of up to 75 years in federal prison, followed by a period of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.
“The investigation into the 2018 murder of the wife of a deployed Fort Stewart soldier was lengthy, detailed and complex,” said U.S. Attorney Christine. “It was made even more difficult because of active, illegal efforts to impede the investigators working non-stop to find her killer.”
Stafon Jamar Davis, 28, of Savannah, recently pled guilty to Premeditated Murder and to Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon in the July 9, 2018 shooting death of Abree Boykin, 24, a resident of post housing at Fort Stewart Army Reservation. The indictment in which Ryan is charged states that Ryan knew Davis from their time spent in federal prison on unrelated charges. At the time of Boykin’s death, both Ryan and Davis were on federally supervised release.
According to the indictment, after killing Boykin, Davis contacted Ryan for help in “getting rid of a car,” and Ryan provided directions to a location in Hardeeville, S.C., where he met Davis. As alleged in the indictment, Ryan “did corruptly obstruct, influence, and impede investigations and proceedings of the United States Probation Office and the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia of violations of federal supervised release, which were official proceedings, and did attempt to do so, by burning, altering, mutilating and destroying a 2018 Honda Accord,” and then “provided materially false testimony that obstructed, influenced and impeded the investigation.”
Davis is in custody while awaiting sentencing.
“Any attempt to hinder a criminal investigation is a very serious matter,” said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “This case is particularly egregious because it was an attempt to cover up the murder of a deployed soldier’s wife. No matter how difficult it makes the investigation, we are determined to uncover it and prosecute it.”
Criminal indictments contain only charges; defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The case is being investigated by the FBI and the Army Criminal Investigation Command, and prosecuted for the United States by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer G. Solari and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Darron J. Hubbard.