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Michelle Mansfield spoke to Judge Kristi Curtis through tears while the man charged with the death of her daughter awaited a decision on reducing his bond.
On March 11, 2024, Joshua Ryan Olive, 41, of Ridgeway, S.C., appeared in the Barnwell County Courthouse regarding his motion to reduce bond and motion for a speedy trial.
Olive was charged with involuntary manslaughter in February 2023 for selling the drugs that ultimately killed 20-year-old Sydney Joyner of Barnwell in December 2022.
“This is basically one of a number of cases we have in Barnwell County right now, before the legislature began dealing with some of these fentanyl issues, we’ve gotten warrants for drug dealers who give people fentanyl and it ends up killing them,” said deputy solicitor David Miller.
Involuntary manslaughter is the doing of an illegal act that leads to an unintended consequence of death.
Around the time of Olive’s arrest in early 2023, legislation was introduced at the state and federal level increasing the maximum sentences for individuals convicted of distributing fentanyl resulting in death.
Senate Bill 380 introduced in February 2023, makes the distribution of fentanyl resulting in death a first-degree murder, a felony charge subject to death or life in prison. This bill currently resides in the Committee on the Judiciary.
Many of these bills are a direct response to the high rate of overdoses due to fentanyl across the country.
“We’ve done this as a means of addressing the fentanyl issue, and that is ultimately what killed Ms. Joyner,” said Miller.
Olive was initially granted a $75,000 bond at the magistrate level. A motion to reduce this amount was denied by Judge Courtney Clyburn-Pope in May 2023.
When the same motion was brought before Judge Curtis less than a year later, she denied it too.
“I think we’re all at the point now where we’re just tired of seeing mothers coming to court who have lost their children, so I am going to respectfully deny the motion,” said Judge Curtis.
Olive’s at-the-time girlfriend, Rachael Ashley Rountree, 32, was also arrested in relation to Joyner’s death and charged with voluntary manslaughter. According to the deputy solicitor, Olive and Rountree were selling drugs out of the same location.
Rountree was granted a $40,000 surety bond for this charge which was posted on April 29, 2023. In November 2023, Rountree was charged with criminal conspiracy and unlawful carrying of a pistol; bonds for both were granted and posted.
More recently on March 14, 2024 she was charged with 7 counts of distribution of meth, 7 counts of distribution of meth within proximity of a park, possession of fentanyl, possession of fentanyl with intent to distribute near a park, possession of controlled substance, and possession of stolen vehicle. Rountree was denied bond for these charges on April 22.
Miller told the court during Rountree’s bond hearing that the solicitor's office felt she was a direct danger to the community due to her proclivity to continue selling fentanyl. He explained numerous informants for the Barnwell County Sheriff’s Office have conducted controlled buys from Rountree, while out on bond and prior to her arrest, where she sold them fentanyl.
According to Miller, Olive has a slew of arrests in Kershaw County, Richland County, and Aiken County including several magistrate charges dating back to 2021, financial transaction fraud charges, unlawful carrying of a weapon in 2018, habitual traffic offender, larceny, receiving stolen goods, and a handful of drug-related charges in addition to parole violations.
Olive also has six pending charges in Kershaw County from 2019 and 2020.
Both Olive and Rountree are currently incarcerated at the Barnwell County Detention Center.
