Father of woman killed in head-on collision sues Horry bars where driver was served alcohol
A father of a North Carolina woman killed in a head-on collision last year is suing three Horry County businesses that allegedly served alcohol to the driver arrested for causing the accident.
Xerxus Belvin filed the lawsuit Aug. 21 on behalf of his daughter, Kamiyah Belvin, who was killed July 1, 2022. Belvin was a passenger in a vehicle driven by Shanika Teshea Jones, who while “impaired under the influence of alcohol” drove the wrong way on Highway 31 through North Myrtle Beach and collided head-on with another vehicle, the lawsuit says.
Jones is also named in the suit.
The suit claims that on June 30, 2022, and into the early hours of July 1, 2022, Jones was served and consumed alcoholic beverages at Thee Party Shop, Gerodie’s Bar and Lounge and King Street Grille - Myrtle Beach within hours of the deadly accident.
Jones, 28, of Supply, North Carolina, was arrested in 2022 by North Myrtle Beach Police on charges of reckless homicide caused by injury from vehicle, according to online booking records. She was booked into the J. Ruben Long Detention Center on Aug. 26, 2022, and was released on a $5,000 bond.
Gerodie D. Graham, owner of both Thee Party Shop and Geordie’s Bar, was also named in the suit, as well as James Rondell Bryant, who owned the vehicle Jones was driving.
A phone number for Jones or Bryant could not be located and an attorney for both was not listed on the Public Index.
Messages left Tuesday on phone numbers listed for Graham, Thee Party Shop and Geordie’s Bar were not immediately returned. A message left Tuesday for King Street management also was not immediately returned. Attorneys were also not listed on the Public Index for the businesses or Graham.
The suit claims that Jones was served and consumed alcohol as a patron at King Street Grille and Thee Party Shop and Geordie’s Bar, where she became “grossly intoxicated.” In addition to consuming multiple liquor drinks she purchased at King Street Grille, Jones was also served at least two rounds of tequila shots by her waiter “on the house,” the suit says.
The suit says that businesses’ employees, servers and bartenders either knew or should have known that Jones was intoxicated, continued to serve her alcohol and then permitted Jones to drive away from the establishment.
The lawsuit cites South Carolina’s laws, including the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act, that stipulates a holder of a permit that authorizes the sale of beer or wine or an employee, servant or agent of the permit holder cannot, among other things, sell beer or wine to an intoxicated person.
Jones is accused of negligence in operating the vehicle in a reckless manner and driving while impaired and under the influence of alcohol, the suit says.
The suit is asking for judgment to recover actual, compensatory and punitive damages in an amount to be determined by the jury.
Messages left for attorneys representing Xerxus Belvin were not immediately returned Tuesday.
This story was originally published August 23, 2023 at 9:45 AM.
