Double homicide investigated at Socastee Plaza

Horry County Police are investigating a double homicide in the parking lot of Socastee Plaza in front of El Ya Merito on S.C. 707 just a little over a month after a 65-year-old woman was found dead in the same area.

Two men were found deceased around 7 a.m. Monday, according to Lt. Raul Denis with the Horry County Police.

The names of the victims will be released once their families are notified. Both victims were from the Myrtle Beach area and died from trauma due to gunshots, according to Horry County Deputy Coroner Darris Fowler.

Wanda Wohnig was found stabbed to death June 3 in the parking lot in front of the laundromat in the same plaza. Jon Paul Joseph Marston, of Myrtle Beach, was arrested and faces charges of murder, armed robbery and possession of a weapon during a violent crime.

One of the deceased men was found lying face down on the ground next to a gold Chevrolet Astro van that had tinted windows with the windshield wipers still moving. The other victim was slumped over in the passenger seat of the van.

A medical call came in first with a man reporting to find the victim laying next to the van, Denis said. They thought he was injured but didn’t want to get too close because the caller had a child with him, he said.

The fire department initially responded, paramedics found that the man was deceased and called police.

“So we responded and I guess at that point we found a second deceased young man in the van,” Denis said. “Right now all we know is they appear to be young Hispanic males, both of them, probably in their 20s.”

“It is a double homicide investigation,” Denis said.

A man at the scene who said he owned the gold van told The Sun News he knew the driver and let him borrow the van last night. The man said he’s known the guy for several years.

This story was originally published July 11, 2016 at 9:26 AM with the headline "Double homicide investigated at Socastee Plaza."