Men to face judge in deadly Horry County shooting. What to know in Scott Spivey case
More than two years after a North Carolina man died along a Horry County road, the victim’s family and the two men who killed him will find out whether a state law will once again provide immunity for the shooters.
The death of Scott Spivey, of Tabor City, has attracted national attention for its tangled tale of alleged police misconduct, mishandling of evidence and conflicting accounts of what led to the deadly shooting.
At the center of the 2023 shooting is South Carolina’s Protection of Persons and Property Act, commonly referred to as the “Stand Your Ground“ law.
The fatal shooting of Spivey by North Myrtle Beach businessman Weldon Boyd and his friend, Kenneth “Bradley” Williams, on Sept. 9, 2023, on Camp Swamp Road in the Longs area was reported as a road rage incident by police.
Law enforcement agencies, including the state Attorney General’s Office, have declined to criminally charge Boyd or Williams, who claim they were acting in self-defense. But evidence uncovered in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Spivey’s family has cast doubt on that assertion.
Now a hearing set for Tuesday before Circuit Court Judge Eugene Griffith Jr. would determine whether Boyd and Williams are entitled to civil immunity related to their actions during the shooting.
There is a lot to unpack about the investigation and the evidence, including recordings of Boyd’s phone calls in the days after the shooting, which have already led to two high-ranking Horry County police officers losing their jobs, the opening of a South Carolina Law Enforcement Division investigation into police actions, calls for the case to be reopened, the state Attorney General’s Office asking another solicitor to review the case and now a grand jury being impaneled to review evidence.
Here is a timeline of the case and what to know about those involved.
Sept. 9, 2023, 6:50 p.m.: Horry County Police reported that Scott Spivey, 33, of Tabor City, North Carolina, was killed in an exchange of gunfire with another driver at the intersection of Camp Swamp Road and S.C. 9 in the Longs area.
Police did not release the name of the person who fired the other shots, citing a section of South Carolina law that allows an exemption if it would interfere with a prospective law enforcement proceeding. However, the driver of the white Dodge TRX truck that was involved in the shooting told police that “the guy in the black truck jumped out and started shooting at us and I shot back. I think he’s dead.”
Police said that the incident appeared to be road rage.
Sept. 19, 2023: Weldon Boyd, a North Myrtle Beach business owner, was named as the shooter of Spivey. Boyd, who operates Buoys on the Boulevard, was one of two people involved in Spivey’s shooting. Police would not release the name of the second person.
15th Circuit Solicitor Jimmy Richardson named Boyd in a letter that he sent to the state Attorney General’s Office on Sept. 15 asking for a review of the case after Horry County police are finished with their investigation. Richardson recused himself from the case after Boyd posted on Facebook a statement thanking police and the Solicitor’s Office for their hard work involving the shooting. Richardson asked for the review so that there wouldn’t be any issues of impropriety. HCPD asked for SLED to join the investigation, Richardson said.
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Sept. 23, 2023: Jennifer Foley, Scott Spivey’s sister, posted on Facebook about wanting answers in her brother’s death. “We just want the truth, whatever that truth is,” Foley said. No arrests have been made in the shooting.
April 22, 2024: Five 911 calls, including one from Boyd, were released to The Sun News as part of a Freedom of Information Act request. The calls came from the day of the shooting.
Boyd tells the dispatcher, “I’ve got a guy pointing a gun at me driving. We’re armed as well. He keeps throwing the gun in our faces, acting like he’s about to shoot us. If he keeps this up, I am going to shoot him.”
A short time later Boyd says, “We’re about to have a shootout. This dude has a f****** gun. He’s got a f******* gun.” Gunshots can then be heard on the call.
April 5, 2024: Horry County Police close the case, announcing they would not seek prosecution in Spivey’s shooting. The decision follows the state Attorney General Office’s report that it, too, has closed the case, concluding “insufficient evidence to merit criminal prosecution” in the deadly exchange of gunfire that killed Spivey. The Attorney General’s Office ruled that the shooting was self-defense, citing the state’s Stand Your Ground law
June 3, 2024: Jennifer Foley files a wrongful death lawsuit against Boyd and Kenneth Williams. It is the first time that Williams was publicly named since the September 2023 shooting. The suit claims that after some altercation between Spivey and Boyd, Boyd became enraged and began to pursue Spivey. The suit says that Spivey also had reasonable grounds to be in fear as the defendants aggressively chased him, brandished their weapons and eventually killed him.
March 11, 2025: Horry County Police Chief Kris Leonhardt announced that the department has requested the case be reviewed once more by both the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and the FBI. The request was made after Horry County received continuing questions related to Spivey’s shooting. Mark Tinsley, Foley’s attorney, said they have found “considerable information” during the wrongful death lawsuit and have relayed it to authorities.
March 13, 2025: South Carolina Law Enforcement Division announces that Horry County Police Deputy Chief Brandon Strickland is under investigation for alleged misconduct as it pertains to the investigation involving the death of Spivey. Strickland resigns. It is later reported that Strickland and Boyd had a close friendship and that Strickland appeared to help Boyd during the investigation.
April 17, 2025: Horry County Administrator Barry Spivey, who is no relation to Scott Spivey, sent a letter to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division asking for the agency to reopen the investigation into Spivey’s death. The letter also asks SLED to become the lead investigating agency since the appearance of a conflict of interest still exists within the Horry County Police Department.
April 18, 2025: Text messages and 90 audio recordings uncovered during the civil lawsuit reveal conversations between Boyd and Williams days after the deadly shooting. “I had a f****** blast,” Boyd said in a phone call to his friend, Williams, about the shooting. “I know it’s f***** up. … I had a good time.”
“I feel no remorse for that dude,” Williams replies.
The calls also show at least two officers, including Strickland, and one elected official had contact with Boyd within hours and days of the deadly shooting. The audio tapes were turned over to police.
June 5, 2025: HCPD Patrol Division Sgt. Paul Damon Vescovi is terminated after it was discovered he scrawled “Act Like A Victim Camera” on a piece of paper, showing it to Boyd, while on the scene of the shooting. Vescovi was accused of “conduct unbecoming of an officer,” the department said. The note was spotted in footage from Vescovi’s body cam.
Oct. 3, 2025: Attorney General Alan Wilson asks 7th Circuit Solicitor Barry Barnette to review the case of Scott Spivey. The solicitor will review SLED’s investigation into the Horry County Police Department’s handling of the shooting case following allegations of police misconduct, the Attorney General’s Office says.
Dec. 6, 2025: Attorney General and South Carolina gubernatorial candidate Alan Wilson appears on his cousin’s podcast to discuss his office’s decision to rule that Spivey’s death was self-defense under the state’s Stand Your Ground law. Wilson went on to say that if Spivey had survived, he would have been the one to be charged for driving under the influence and brandishing a firearm.
Wilson said Spivey was the initial aggressor, having pointed a gun at Boyd and trying to run him and other drivers off the road before the deadly shooting occurred.
Feb. 6, 2026: Seventh Circuit Solicitor Barry Barnette, who was asked to review Horry County Police’s investigation into the shooting of Spivey, impanels a grand jury to review his findings. It is not clear when the grand jury will meet and what evidence Barnette presented.
Feb. 17, 2026: Stand Your Ground hearing to be conducted in Horry County regarding the wrongful death lawsuit filed by Spivey’s family against Boyd and Williams. Judge Eugene Griffith Jr. will hear the case to determine whether the two shooters’ actions fall under the law. If it is ruled Stand Your Ground, the two men will be immune from civil action and the lawsuit will not proceed.
