Murrells Inlet bait shop owner honored with memorial reef

Approximately five miles southeast of Murrells Inlet, boaters can find the Pawley’s Island Reef. That’s now been extended to honor a Murrells Inlet woman who was known to locals and tourists for her knowledge and helpful advice in the fishing community.

Family and friends gathered Friday on a few different boats to pay tribute and drop a reef memorial for Jessica Hill-Doehner, who was killed in 2017.

About 12 concrete cylinders were used for the fish habitat.

“It’s just a beautiful thing to be able to give back to the community but also to give back to her children something that will be there forever,” said Claire Collins, who now manages the bait shop.

“You know, in 20-30 years, if they want to fish Pawley’s Island Memorial reef where their mother’s memorial is, that’s there for them.”

Hill-Doehner’s parents, Sharon and Craig Doehner, along with her children drifted on a boat Friday provided by Aces Up Fishing charters. Sharon’s voice cracked with emotion over the radio as she lay a wreath on the water’s surface.

“This was such a passion for her, thank you so much,” Sharon Doehner said.

Hill-Doehner’s ex-husband, Eric Justin Perry, of Murrells Inlet, was charged with her murder.

On Sept. 29, 2017, police said a witness called 911 to report a blaze at Perry’s Bait and Tackle along the Marshwalk at U.S. 17 Business. Witnesses told police “someone was standing in front of the building, smoking a cigarette, watching it burn.”

Perry was found on a boat in the Inlet. A witness allegedly saw him set fire to the building, police said.

Hill-Doehner, 36, died from strangulation and head trauma, according to the coroner’s office.

Hill-Doehner, a staple in the fishing community for about a decade, left three children behind. She was known as someone who could do anything she put her mind to, able to argue her way out of anything and a “beautiful girl.”

Horry County Solicitor Jimmy Richardson said prosecutors are still working on the case, though no official trial date has been set.

This story was originally published February 1, 2019 at 6:03 PM with the headline "Murrells Inlet bait shop owner honored with memorial reef."