Stand Your Ground hearing set in fatal shooting of Scott Spivey in Horry County
A hearing to determine whether a wrongful death lawsuit against a North Myrtle Beach businessman and his friend can move forward has been set for February.
The 2023 deadly shooting of Scott Spivey in Horry County has received national attention and has put South Carolina’s Stand Your Ground law in the spotlight.
The hearing has been set for the week of Feb. 17 and will determine whether Weldon Boyd, owner of Buoys on the Boulevard, and his friend, Kenneth “Bradley” Williams will receive immunity for shooting and killing the 33-year-old North Carolina man on Sept. 9, 2023, on Camp Swamp Road in what police have labeled a road rage incident.
Boyd and Williams have not been charged in the case after law enforcement agencies, including the state Attorney General’s Office, ruled the shooting as self-defense based on Stand Your Ground.
However, evidence that has been made public in the wrongful death lawsuit filed by Spivey’s family against the two men has cast doubt on the finding.
Police have said that Boyd followed Spivey for nine miles along Highway 9 before the fatal shooting occurred. Police reports show the confrontation first began when Spivey was driving erratically, waving his gun outside his truck window and pointing his gun at Boyd and Williams.
Stand Your Ground laws in SC
The Stand Your Ground law, which most states have in some form, allows people to use force, including deadly force, to protect themselves against a perceived threat. South Carolina’s law specifically eliminated the duty to retreat when a person is somewhere they have a right to be.
If Judge Eugene Griffith determines Boyd’s and Williams’ actions qualify under the law, they would be granted immunity both from any future criminal charges related to the shooting, as well as the civil case.
The scheduling of the hearing comes a little more than a week after Attorney General Alan Wilson, who is also a gubernatorial candidate, said during his cousin’s podcast, “The Political Pulse,” that if Scott Spivey survived, he would have been the one to be charged.
Wilson said that there is “zero” evidence that Boyd chased Spivey for nine miles before shooting him along Camp Swamp Road in the Longs area. “Were they driving along the same highway? Yes,” Wilson said.
Wilson has been criticized for his office’s decision to not charge the two men. Boyd’s friendships and ties to the Horry County Police department allegedly affected the HCPD’s original investigation of the case, which resulted in an investigation by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.
