Second Ocean Boulevard shooting suspect may need new bond hearing

Raekwon Tariq Graham, the second person to be charged in connection with a shooting on Ocean Boulevard, could have a new bond hearing as police have found the criminal history of another man with a similar name was used in the determination of his bond.

Graham, 18, of Troy, N.C., was denied bond on six counts of attempted murder on Friday. Police said he worked in concert with the alleged shooter, Derias J’Shaun Little, 17, of Mt. Gilead, N.C. Little is accused of firing into a crowd on Myrtle Beach’s main strip on June 18, sending six people to the hospital.

During Graham’s bond hearing, Judge J. Scott Long said the defendant also was charged with several offenses in Richland County in March 2016, including first-degree burglary; first-degree assault with intent to commit criminal sexual conduct; first-degree assault and battery; and malicious injury to property. Bond is determined based on whether the defendant is a flight risk and whether release would pose a threat to society, Long said during the hearing.

The charges that Long mentioned are actually connected to another person with a similar name. Long could not immediately be reached at Myrtle Beach Municipal Court on Monday afternoon.

There are no charges listed under “Raekwon Graham” in the Richland County public index. But The Sun News has obtained arrest warrants for Raequawn Jamal Graham, 18, of Johnsonville, S.C.

“The criminal history contained arrest records of a defendant with a similar name, Raequawn Graham, who has a date of birth with the same month and year,” a news release said. “During the bond hearing proceedings, the Judge documented the arrest record of Raequawn Graham as that of Raekwon Graham.”

The warrants allege that on Feb, 26, 2016, while detained as a juvenile at the Broad River Road Complex in Columbia, Raequawn Jamal Graham broke into a facility for female juveniles. That resulted in charges for first degree burglary; first degree assault with intent to commit criminal sexual conduct; first degree assault and battery; and malicious injury to property, according to the warrants.

Raequawn Jamal Graham has been detained at the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center in Richland County since March 9, 2016, in connection with those charges, according to online records and a records clerk with the jail.

Lt. Joey Crosby of Myrtle Beach police said Monday that police have no question that the person they detained, Raekwon Tariq Graham, is connected to the Ocean Boulevard shooting. But police are now working with the court to determine whether the bond ruling was based on charges that are not connected to Myrtle Beach’s suspect.

Police run a criminal background check using name, date of birth, fingerprints and social security numbers. That check may also pull history based on suspected aliases, Crosby said.

Horry County Solicitor Jimmy Richardson said the database police and courts use — National Crime Information Center — will often pull the records of several similar names, birth dates and social security numbers because defendants may change that information if they are arrested multiple times.

Raekwon Tariq Graham, detained in Horry County, and Raequawn Jamal Graham, detained in Richland County, also have birthdays 10 days apart in the same year.

“If that is not his charges and the judge misread the criminal record, or there was some other type of error, then yes, the judge could go back, review all the information, and then re-do the bond hearing,” Crosby said.

Raekwon Tariq Graham, the Myrtle Beach suspect, was approved for a public defender on Friday but had not yet been appointed one Monday morning.

This story was originally published July 17, 2017 at 12:57 PM with the headline "Second Ocean Boulevard shooting suspect may need new bond hearing."