Scott Spivey shooter asks for case dismissal ahead of Stand Your Ground hearing
Days before an Horry County hearing to determine whether two men who shot and killed Scott Spivey are civilly immune from their actions, one of the shooters has asked the judge to rule in his favor and dismiss the case against him.
Kenneth “Bradley” Williams filed a motion Feb. 11 asking Judge Eugene Griffith Jr. to make a pretrial determination that he is immune from the wrongful death lawsuit filed by Spivey’s family under South Carolina’s Protection of Persons and Property Act, or more commonly known as Stand Your Ground.
The request comes before a hearing on Tuesday that will determine whether Williams and Weldon Boyd, a North Myrtle Beach restaurant owner, will be subject to the lawsuit. The two men have not been charged criminally in the case after the state Attorney General’s Office ruled the shooting was self-defense under the Stand Your Ground law.
The motion states that Spivey, of Tabor City, North Carolina, was “intoxicated and driving aggressively” on Highway 9 in the Longs area on Sept. 9, 2023, when he repeatedly pointed a black, semi-automatic pistol at several motorists, including Williams.
Spivey then turned onto Camp Swamp Road, stopped and exited his vehicle, then brandished his weapon again and began firing at the vehicle in which Williams was a passenger, the motion said.
Williams remained a passenger in the vehicle that was being driven by Boyd, the motion says. The two men, who had already called 911, “returned fire only to stop an imminent deadly threat,” the motion says.
South Carolina’s Stand Your Ground law
The court filing states that under South Carolina’s Stand Your Ground law, a person who is not engaged in unlawful activity and is in a place where they have a right to be, has no duty to retreat. An occupied vehicle constitutes a protected location under the statute, the filing says.
Because of this, the filing is asking for the judge to grant immunity and dismiss the lawsuit. As of Friday, no ruling has been made on the filing, and it is unclear if the motion will be considered during Tuesday’s pretrial hearing.
Messages left for Williams’ attorney Morgan Martin, Boyd’s attorney Kenneth Moss and Mark Tinsley, who is representing the Spivey family, were not returned Friday.
Boyd and Williams actions surround the shooting
While the state Attorney General’s Office declined to press charges against the two men in the shooting death of Spivey, the heart of the wrongful death lawsuit are the actions of Boyd and Williams before and after the shooting, including the fact that the two men followed Spivey for nine miles before the shootout happened along the roadside. There also are audio recordings and text messages taken from Boyd’s phone as part of the lawsuit that indicate Boyd’s protection from law enforcement, discussion with Williams of “how he had a f***ing blast” during the shooting and the alleged destruction of evidence.
Williams’ filing points out that he was a passenger in Boyd’s vehicle and “was not in control of it at any point.” When Spivey exited his vehicle, Williams instructed Boyd to back up, but Boyd was unable to “before Spivey opened fire,” the filing states.
The filing claims that Spivey was conducting multiple criminal offenses on the day of the shooting, including driving while intoxicated, reckless driving, pointing a firearm at people and assault and battery.
“It was this pattern of escalating aggression by Spivey that directly led to his demise,” Williams’ filing said.
Boyd and Williams have claimed that Spivey ran them off the road and pointed a gun at them. It was then Boyd decided to call 911 and continue to follow Spivey to alert police of his location. Horry County police, which originally investigated the shooting, said that the shooting stemmed from a road rage incident.
However, audio recordings taken from Boyd’s phone prior to and after the shooting indicate that Boyd may have aggressively chased the 33-year-old and told 911 dispatchers that “if he keeps this up, I’m going to shoot him.”
Who shot first?
Witness statements also are not clear on whether Spivey actually shot first or just began to raise his gun before Boyd and Williams began shooting from inside Boyd’s truck.
South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson said during a podcast last year that if Spivey had survived, he would have been the one to be charged.
“Were they driving along the same highway? Yes,” Wilson said.
However, Wilson said Spivey was the initial aggressor, having pointed a gun at Boyd and trying to run him off the road, as well as other drivers, before the deadly shooting occurred.
“At that roadside, had Mr. Spivey not been shot and survived, he would have been the one charged with a felony, for driving under the influence and brandishing a firearm,” Wilson said. “That is the facts. Unfortunately, he was killed.”
