How did teen accused in deadly Peaches Corner shooting get released a 2nd time?
It was a summer night in June and just like many young people in the Myrtle Beach area, Grayson Meyers and his friend had planned to head down to Ocean Boulevard.
A hub of downtown Myrtle Beach, the boulevard is known for its shops, the boardwalk and the well-known SkyWheel. It draws thousands of people, both visitors and locals, and is only steps away from the Atlantic Ocean. But it’s also known for crime, including a deadly mass shooting that left one person dead and 11 others injured only a month earlier in the same location.
Meyers’ mother, Crystal Sparkman, tried to steer her youngest son away from Ocean Boulevard that June 27, 2025, night, telling him that the Boulevard is probably not where he needed to be.
“Mom, I’m fine,” the 18-year-old Myrtle Beach teen told his mother. “I’ll promise I’ll be safe.”
Two hours later, Sparkman received a phone call from a person “screaming that my son had been shot multiple times,” she said.
Meyers had been gunned down by a teenage worker at the well-known restaurant Peaches Corner.
Evony McCray, 17, of Conway, admitted to police that he shot Meyers, who died at the scene, after a verbal altercation, police reports say.
McCray was charged with murder, along with assault of a high and aggravated nature, unlawful possession of a gun and possession of a weapon during a violent crime. McCray is being tried as an adult.
He was given a bond that was “thousands of dollars less than my son’s funeral,” Sparkman said, and allowed to be on home detention.
It was a blow to the family, who had hoped the 17-year-old would remain behind bars.
Now, nearly a year later, Meyers’ family is dealing with a new challenge in the case. McCray last month was released on home detention for a second time, although his previous bond had been revoked after he violated his home detention. This time, Sparkman was not notified of his release, she said.
McCray was allowed to live in a neighborhood near Meyers’ immediate family.
“We’re terrified,” Sparkman said.
An attorney for McCray could not be located for comment. Because McCray is a juvenile, his information is not public record in the court’s online system.
The handling of McCray’s release resulted in a change in procedures within the Horry County Sheriff’s Department for how it notifies victims, as well as a new hearing to determine what to do about McCray’s living arrangements.
It also has prompted Sparkman to speak out about victims’ rights.
“I just don’t want another mother to experience what I have in the past 10 months,” Sparkman said.
Victim’s family not notified of shooter’s release
After McCray was arrested in Meyers’ death, he did not receive bond for the murder charge, but bond was set at more than a half-million dollars for the other two charges. However, a judge reduced that amount to $75,000 and allowed McCray to be on home detention in November 2025.
In January 2026, McCray’s bond was revoked for violations of home detention, which included the discovery of guns and alcohol.
McCray was sentenced to 90 days and released early due to good-time credit, according to an email from Horry County Sheriff’s spokesperson Brennan Cavanagh. A judge ordered him back on home detention on March 13, 2026.
However, during that process, Meyers’ family was not notified of McCray’s re-release.
“Our Community, Corrections, and Enforcement Team is responsible for notifying victims prior to an inmate being placed on Home Detention,” Cavanagh said. “Upon learning of the oversight in McCray’s case, we changed our procedures to make sure this does not happen again.”
Cavanagh said that a log sheet was created that will be placed on each inmate’s folder with the victim’s name and contact information. It will allow deputies to easily verify whether a victim has been notified.
“Our Community Corrections and Enforcement Team goes to great lengths to ensure individuals are compliant with the rules and boundaries set by a judge,” Cavanagh said. “If McCray disregards these rules again, he will be brought back to jail.”
New hearing set in case
After learning of McCray’s re-arrest, an online petition was started to push for McCray to remain in jail until his trial.
But a judge once again granted McCray home detention at a new location — near Meyers’ immediate family.
“The community deserves to be protected,” Sparkman said.
A hearing has been set for May 14 to determine a new placement for McCray.
What happened that night
Few details about the shooting have been released. Police did say that the two had a verbal altercation before the shooting, which happened about 11:15 p.m. inside the restaurant.
Another person, who was outside in a crosswalk, was also hit, but survived, police said. No further information was made available about the second victim.
Both McCray and Meyers had a gun that night. Meyers, 18, was legally allowed under state law to have one. McCray, however, was in possession of the weapon illegally. The law says that only those age 18 and older are allowed to have a gun.
However, Sparkman said that video shows her son walking into Peaches Corner holding a cellphone, not a gun, and then speaks to McCray. After that, McCray pulls his weapon and shoots Meyers five times. Meyers never drew his weapon, Sparkman said.
However, the defense for McCray claimed in a hearing that Meyers was reaching for his gun, Sparkman said.
Meyers and McCray knew each other, Sparkman said. Sparkman claims the altercation was over a blanket that had been taken, according to text messages. What Meyers said to McCray that night was about the blanket, Sparkman said.
South Carolina laws prevent a juvenile’s records from being public. But it appears that McCray has a previous criminal history.
Meyers, too, had an arrest record.
Meyers had been charged with trespassing earlier in 2025, and had also been charged with kidnapping, which was dismissed, and assault and battery first degree in 2024, to which he pleaded guilty, according to the Horry County Public Index. The latter two charges were in connection with a Conway-area party at which a minor was assaulted, and Meyers was arrested alongside three others involved.
Meyers was a ‘mama’s boy’
Meyers was the third oldest out of four children.
“He was, first of all, the funniest person in our family,” Sparkman said.
He was a mama’s boy, loved his siblings and even helped his mother pay bills. “He was working; he was doing everything he could to better himself,” Sparkman said.
But Sparkman knows Meyers wasn’t perfect. She said the people Meyers hung out with caused most of his problems.
“I don’t know what was portrayed of Grayson outside of the home, but in my home, he was just a loving child,” she said.
