Background: News footage of the scene in December 2024 at Budiman”s smoke shop in Rock Hill, S.C. (WBTV). Inset: News footage of suspect Zachary Elias in court on Sept. 15 (WSOC).
A South Carolina man accused of killing two people will remain behind bars, despite his defense attorney saying that drug-laced “candy” is to blame for the alleged crime.
Zachary Elias, 28, faces several charges including two counts of murder in connection with a December 2024 shooting at Budiman’s smoke shop in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Local newspaper The Herald was in the courtroom on Monday when a judge denied bail for Elias for a second time after his defense attorneys argued that their client was not to blame for his alleged actions — and that the psychedelic chocolate he bought at the store earlier that day was the real culprit.
The judge sided with prosecutors and surviving family members of the people Elias allegedly killed and ordered him to remain in jail until trial.
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According to Elias’ defense attorney, Alexandra Benevento, Elias did not realize that the drug-laced chocolate bar he bought from Budiman’s on the day of the alleged shooting would affect him so severely. The chocolate bar, which cost $32, was advertised as a “Wavy Wafer Chocolate Bar,” and Elias was reportedly unaware that it contained the illegal drug psilocin. That ingredient was reportedly not listed on the bar’s packaging.
Benevento told Judge Bill McKinnon, “We’re talking about a chocolate bar, your honor, we’re talking about candy,” later adding, “The danger to the community is that these products, these chocolates, are allowed to be sold at all.”
Elias allegedly had both psilocin, which is a chemical found in hallucinogenic mushrooms, and THC in his system the day of the shooting.
Representing the state, York County prosecutor Kevin Brackett said that the fact that Elias knowingly spent $32 on a chocolate bar means he was not merely looking for a snack, he was allegedly looking to “alter his outlook on reality.” Brackett also told the court that Elias was such a regular customer of Budiman’s that he received a discount for his purchases. According to Brackett, Elias had spent $180 at Budiman’s on drug-laced chocolate products and THC gummies the day of the shooting, and had eaten a similar chocolate bar earlier the same week.
Brackett told McKinnon, “This was an intentional act on his part with tragic consequences.”
Video of the shooting that was played in court reportedly showed Elias entering the store with an assault rifle as he shouted, “Where’s the mushroom man?” He then allegedly opened fire on everyone inside the store, including a store clerk, 27-year-old Celcei Johnson, and 49-year-old Emad Thabet Saadalla, a customer, who both died of gunshot wounds. Saadalla was there with his wife, who was also wounded in the gunfire.
Elias can also be heard on the video proclaiming, “I’m Jesus Christ. They wrote the book about me.”
He did not speak during his court appearance on Monday.
Benevento argued that Elias was driven by a “drug-induced psychosis,” and it was not malicious intent that caused her client to come back to Budiman’s with a firearm, but that it was “that psychosis that took him back to the store.”
McKinnon did not give the defense the benefit of the doubt. After hearing from both sides, he told the court, “If this were alcohol, and somebody who was a lightweight drinker and drank a beer or two occasionally, and they drank a whole bottle of vodka and killed two people and wounded a third, that would not make me think they were less dangerous.”
The judge added, “The defendant voluntarily ingested a product which describes itself as magic mushroom chocolate.”
Elias is charged with two counts of murder, two counts of attempted murder, and several weapons possession charges. After the judge’s ruling, Elias will remain in custody at York County Jail without bond. A trial date has not been scheduled.
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