Conway teen to be tried as adult for 2021 rape, attempted murder
Two teenagers kidnapped, raped and attempted to murder a young woman during an armed carjacking on Halloween in 2021 near Coastal Carolina University, according to arrest warrants.
One of the teens, Mije Basnight, is being tried as an adult, according to the solicitor’s office.
Ja’Real Tavon Warren of Green Sea, who was 17 at the time, was the other teenager involved.
Basnight has been charged with attempted murder, kidnapping, armed robbery, carjacking, first-degree criminal sexual conduct and assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, according to the release from the solicitor’s office.
According to a police report, when police arrived at University Boulevard at Highway 544, the young woman told them that she had been sexually assaulted and that the boys had stolen her car, a 2015 Subaru Legacy. She was then taken to Conway Medical Center.
Warrants released for Warren noted that the defendants approached the 19-year-old woman with a pistol while she was in her car. The warrants then detailed that they stole her phone, choked her and threatening to kill her if she did not participate in sexual acts. The woman was then backed into with her own car. She landed on the trunk and was then thrown from the vehicle.
There are no available warrants for Basnight because of his status as a juvenile defendant, according to Conway public information officer June Wood.
“The prosecution of this egregious crime and getting justice for the victim has been a great priority to this office and we are glad that will be able to proceed in the Court of General Sessions where sentencing guidelines are much more appropriate for acts so horrific,” Lauren Vinson, the assistant solicitor said.
