Galivants Ferry man charged with murder of man found in pool of blood

A 26-year-old man is charged with murder in connection with the death of a 43-year-old man who was found in a “pool of blood” Thursday evening, according to a police report.

Jonathan Lamar Allen of Galivants Ferry was booked into the county jail Monday night after being arrested by Horry County police, according to Krystal Dotson, spokeswoman with Horry County Police Department.

Police responded to the area around 11:45 p.m. Thursday and found Boyd Wayne Graham with what appeared to be a laceration to his throat, lying facedown on the floor of his bedroom in his home on Grainloyd Road in Galivants Ferry, according to a police report.

“The injury described by witnesses and the initial responding officers as a laceration was later revealed to be a gunshot wound,” said Horry County Deputy Coroner Michelle McSpadden.

Graham’s cause of death was initially withheld by the coroner’s office “until interviews were complete as only the investigators and the perpetrator knew the source of the injury,” McSpadden said.

Graham was unresponsive and lying in a “pool of blood,” with what appeared to be “severe trauma” on the right side of his face and neck, the police report states. EMTs arrived on scene that night and told police Graham was dead, police said.

Authorities initially believed Graham’s throat was cut in a stabbing, but further analysis of his wounds revealed he suffered a gunshot, Dotson said.

An arrest warrant alleges that Allen shot Graham causing his death, and further states evidence gathered during an investigation, including witness statements, along with physical and forensic evidence, show Graham shot “the victim with malice aforethought, causing his death.”

Allen remained at the J. Reuben Long Detention Center Tuesday afternoon, jail records showed.

This story was originally published July 25, 2017 at 11:47 AM with the headline "Galivants Ferry man charged with murder of man found in pool of blood."