Standout breaking news, court cases in Horry County of 2016

This year saw its share of tragic events and big movements on high-profile cases in the area. The Grand Strand saw shooting deaths, alleged sexual assaults against toddlers, and known names grabbed headlines as days in court were had. Here’s a list of some of standout stories from 2016:

1. Woman died after being shot at Myrtle Beach Mall

Seventy-eight-year-old Frances Mae Davis died after she was shot while sitting in a car as her daughter shopped inside the Myrtle Beach Mall during broad daylight on Jan. 8. Since her slaying, Davis’ two daughters have been vocal about their mother’s murder and have been active in spreading the word about a reward being offered for information on Davis’ killing. Nearly a year later, the case remains unsolved.

2. Ring arrested in connection with 4-year-olds sexually assaulted

Four people were arrested in connection with sexual assaults of two 4-year-old children that allegedly occurred over the span of about five months from 2014 to 2015, according to a police report. The victims stated that some of the incidents allegedly happened at homes in Myrtle Beach. Police said some of the incidents also occurred at a former strip club called Chez Joey on Seaboard Street that was shuttered after the reports surfaced. The children said they were forced to have sex with siblings and adults. Lindsey Danielle Honeycutt, 29, Anthony Louis Strickland, 46, and Panteleimon Nicolas Spirakis, 55, and Ambrose Edward Heavener, 31, were arrested in connection with the incidents on March 3. They were each indicted on charges in October, records show.

3. Busy year for officer-involved shootings along the Grand Strand

Several officer-involved shootings happened along the Grand Strand in 2016, including one that resulted in the death of a man who had just moved to the area. That incident happened on March 26 near Robert Grissom and 21st Avenue and involved the death of a 55-year-old armed man. Myrtle Beach police officers responded to the call that night. Another was reported April 5 near 79th Avenue North and Marina Parkway, involving Myrtle Beach police and a 40-year-old man from Surfside Beach.

An officer-involved shooting happened again at the Myrtle Beach State Park on June 24 and involved Horry County police, who discovered an armed man who had been acting suspiciously in the park, according to a police report. Another incident involved a North Myrtle Beach police officer shot on June 20 while responding to a call of a domestic dispute. The officer was shot in the foot after a male suspect emerged from the home and fired at the officers, police said. Three North Myrtle Beach officers returned fire, but the suspect — who reportedly suffers from PTSD — ran from the scene. Police later arrested Earnail Michael Godbold, of North Myrtle Beach, and he was booked at the Horry County Detention Center.

4. Community gripped by North Myrtle Beach bank robbery leads to chase, nine-hour manhunt

Three masked and hooded gunmen robbed a South State Bank at 606 Main St. in North Myrtle Beach the morning of May 4., which gave way to a bullet-riddled high-speed chase between the suspects and police. Authorities said the suspects shot at them during the pursuit, but police never returned fire. After the chase, there was a nine-hour manhunt in the North Myrtle Beach area that concluded with all three suspects captured. No one was injured in the incident that rattled the community. Lance Roderick Hardiman, 24, of Longs, along with Rodrick Leland Berklery and Justin Alexander Pressley, both 25 and of Little River, face 40 charges, collectively, ranging from bank robbery and kidnapping to attempted murder in connection with the incident.

5. FBI reveals Brittanee Drexel was murdered

The Federal Bureau of Investigation held a press conference in June informing the public that Brittanee Drexel, who was 17 when she went missing in the Myrtle Beach in 2009, was murdered in the McClellanville area. Officers said she was held against her will for several days before she was murdered in the McClellanville area. FBI agents identified a 24-year-old man as a possible suspect in Drexel’s killing after hearing from jailhouse informants, and wild theories emerged as to what happened to the New York-area teen who disappeared while on spring break in Myrtle Beach without her parents’ permission.

6. Huntington Beach State Park fire

A lightning-charged fire destroyed Huntington Beach State Park’s nature center on July 20, which housed more than 20 animals, including a sting ray, turtles, and snakes that were all killed in the blaze. Multiple agencies, including Midway Fire Rescue and Murrells Inlet Garden City Fire, responded to the nature-fused fire and stayed on scene for hours. News of the fire spread through the campgrounds and community as onlookers periodically came to see for themselves. Programs offered at the center continued at the park, and fundraisers were held to gather money to aid in the center’s rebuilding.

7. Sidney Moorer goes to trial on kidnapping charge in disappearance of Heather Elvis

The fate of Sidney Moorer, charged in connection with the disappearance of missing Socastee woman Heather Elvis, could be decided in 2017 as a retrial is on the horizon. A hung jury split 10 guilty – two innocent led to a mistrial in late June on the kidnapping charge for Moorer. Moorer was jailed for about two months from late July to late September after a judge ruled he violated a gag order by speaking to a media outlet during the trial. Heather Elvis, who was 20-years-old when she vanished, remains missing. The judge who presides over the case recently ruled in favor of a motion for a change of venue filed by the defense and later decided the trial would take place in Georgetown County; however, a date has not been set.

8. Randy Robinson sentenced in 2014 death of Angie Pipkin

Randy Gale Robinson, 49, was sentenced Nov. 14 to a total of 40 years for the 2014 slaying of Angie Pipkin, who authorities say was murdered, dismembered and disposed of in the Great Pee Dee River. Robinson pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and obstruction of justice in Pipkin’s killing.

9. Big movements happen on Zach Malinowski case

Two Conway men charged in connection with the kidnapping and murder of missing Aynor teen Zach Malinowski will likely stand trial in 2017. During late August, the 15th Judicial Circuit was recused from trying the case after a conflict of interest. Now the Attroney General’s Office is handling the case. While out on bond in connection with Malinowski’s death, suspect Javon Gibbs was arrested in connection with the murder of a 22-year-old Conway man.

10. Tragic murder/suicide in Bucksport claims the lives of four, including 10-month-old and 2 year-old

On Oct. 1, an 11-year-old girl alerted a neighbor to an attack at a home where police found a tragic, deadly scene, authorities said. Horry County police were called out to a possible murder/suicide at a home on Martin Luther Drive in the Bucksport community and found a tragic scene. Three people, including Keith Davis, 51, Kristina Burroughs, 40, and Burroughs’ 10-months-old niece, Justice Burroughs, were discovered dead. Kristina Burroughs’ other niece, 2-year-old Katylin Bellamy, suffered critical injuries from what appeared to be a gunshot wound to the head, according to the report, and she later died at a hospital. Davis was listed as a suspect in the report.

This story was originally published December 27, 2016 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Standout breaking news, court cases in Horry County of 2016."