Bonilla guilty in 'Meet Me' murder trial, given life sentence

ST. GEORGE, S.C. (WCIV) — After closing arguments were heard Thursday morning in a possible homicide that started with a "Meet Me"date, the jury came back with a guilty verdict for the original charge of murder.

See day one of testimony here.

During sentencing, Edward Bonilla spoke to the judge.

"Even though I've been convicted of murder, I still believe America has greatest justice system," he said.

His kind words to the judge, prosecution, and the victims family didn't sway his fate. Bonilla was sentenced to life in prison.

Before attorneys had their final say, the jury was given another charge to consider - involuntary manslaughter. They could also decide that 28-year-old Ashley Pegram's death was an accident.

Pegram's body was found buried in a wooded area near Harleyville last May. Her sister told ABC News 4 that Ashley left their Summerville home at 9:18 p.m. on April 3 to go out on a date with a man she met on the dating app Meet Me.

Bonilla, testified on Wednesday that Pegram's death was an accident. He said he accidentally hit her with his mom's car when she got out to use the restroom. After that, he said she became irate and violent. Bonilla said he had to restrain her and that she died in his arms.

Bonilla's defense attorney spoke first Thursday morning, asking that if Bonilla did everything the State alleged, why would he disclose the location of body instead of keeping his mouth shut?

They tried to paint a picture of Bonilla as being in an unfortunate situation - restraining Pegram from kicking his car then making a series of poor choices.

The defense also claimed prosecutors failed to prove the stains in Bonilla's work van were blood and there was no evidence that Pegram was beaten, but accidentally choked.

In describing the scene, Bonilla's attorney pointed out that his client didn't even bury the victim, but placed her in a 2.5 foot "depression," hardly deep enough to hide her remains.

Lead prosecutor Don Sorenson, countered the defense's claims by noting that Pegram's injuries were not consistent with Bonilla's testimony, and doesn't explain her head and neck injuries.

Sorenson also refuted the defense's claims saying they know there was blood in Bonilla's van because of a DNA report but nothing Bonilla said Wednesday explains how her blood got on the van's ceiling.

The prosecution points out that Bonilla was given multiple opportunities to tell law enforcement and Pegram's family what really happened, but he never did.