Horry County police track suspect in homicide using GPS bracelet; charges filed

A Longs man is now facing charges in two homicides following a fatal shooting Thursday, after police used a GPS monitoring bracelet to locate him.

On Friday, police charged 21-year-old Jamar Hashawn Wilson with murder in the shooting death of 33-year-old Gemell Drakeford and he is being held at J. Reuben Long Detention Center pending a bond hearing, Horry County police Sgt. Robert Kegler said.

Police said Wilson already faces gun and accessory charges related to a separate shooting death.

Drakeford of the Wampee community was pronounced dead at 5 p.m. Thursday at Grand Strand Regional Medical Center from massive hemorrhaging from a gunshot wound, Horry County Coroner Darris Fowler said.

Drakeford’s family, who lives out of state, could not be reached Friday for comment.

Drakeford was shot in the leg about 3:50 p.m. Thursday on J.C. lane in Longs and was taken to the hospital, Kegler said.

He said detectives identified Wilson as a suspect in the shooting and used a GPS tracking bracelet he was wearing as a condition of his bond for an unrelated charge to track his whereabouts and connect him to the shooting.

Detectives verified Wilson was at the scene of the shooting when it occurred and then went to his house and took him into custody without incident, Kegler said. Police are still working on a motive for the shooting, but Kegler said there was not a clear cut motive.

“Detectives are still investigating and working on identifying any potential additional suspects,” he said and noted additional arrests are possible.

Jennifer Deshong, an Horry County Sheriff’s deputy who works with home detention and GPS monitoring, said they monitor about 70 people using the system, which is a condition of their bond set forth by a judge before they can be released from jail. Participants pay $70 per week for the services and are subjected to random house visits and conditions set in their bond such as curfews, travel restrictions and exclusion zones, Deshong said. If a person is on a restriction, authorities are alerted by the computer monitoring system if they enter an exclusion zone or miss curfew.

The system also tracks the person’s whereabouts and authorities can use that to see their movements, she said.

Thursday’s shooting was the second in which Wilson faces charges.

In November 2010, Wilson was charged with pointing and presenting a firearm at a person and accessory after the fact of murder in connection with the shooting death of 18-year-old Lakeem Omar Bellamy of Chestnut Run Road, Kegler said at the time.

Wilson is one of three men facing charges in Bellamy’s death, which occurred after he was taken to Grand Strand Regional Medical Center after suffering a gunshot wound to his chest. Police said Bellamy was shot while at a location on Pint Circle in the Longs community.

William Dearck Landy Jr., 24, of Little River, was charged with murder and Dennis Tyron Chestnut Jr., 19, of Longs, was charged with pointing and presenting a firearm at a person, accessory after the fact to a felony (murder), and possession of a firearm or ammunition by a person convicted of violent felony. Charges are pending against the men in that case.

Wilson also has a pending misdemeanor assault and battery charge against him from Oct. 15, 2010, according to a criminal background check from the State Law Enforcement Division. Wilson was ordered to serve a year in prison, but that sentence was suspended to time served in March 2010 on a drug charge.

In January 2008, Wilson was sentenced as a youthful offender to a prison term not to exceed five years for a first-degree burglary offense, according to the records. He was released on probation a year later.