Murder trial delayed for 2014 Carolina Forest shooting

A murder trial scheduled this week for Akeem Akbar Young has been continued until March, according to court officials.

Young, of Conway, is accused of killing 26-year-old Antonio Dexter Smith in a shooting outside a Carolina Forest apartment complex in 2014.

Young, 40, was located and taken into custody by the U.S. Marshal Task Force in Fayetteville, N.C., later that year. He is the second person charged in Smith’s killing.

Delshawn Anthony Davis, 32, of Conway, also was charged with murder and assault by mob after he surrendered to police in June 2014. Davis pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter Dec. 12, 2016. The assault charge was later dropped.

He was sentenced to 25 years in prison, but was given credit for the 909 days he served in jail before his trial.

Smith was shot about 3:45 p.m. June 14 while in the parking lot of Canterbury Apartments, where he lived, authorities said. Smith, who suffered gunshot wounds to his chest, stomach and arm, was taken to Grand Strand Regional Medical Center, where he died.

An officer was on patrol near the apartment complex, off Carolina Forest Boulevard near U.S. 501, when dispatchers received a call about gunshots, according to the report. The officer found a gold Ford Expedition had crashed into a Toyota Corolla in the parking lot.

Smith was found on the ground next to the Ford and some bystanders had begun CPR on Smith until EMS arrived at the scene, according to the report. Witnesses told officers they heard between four and six gunshots from the parking lot and saw a Chrysler 300 speed off after the gunfire.

Officers seized five shell casings from the area.

Stuart Mark Axelrod is the sixth public defender to be assigned Young’s case. Five others were appointed and excused since he was booked into the J. Reuben Long Detention Center on March 26, 2015.

Young also has been charged with trafficking meth or crack, being an accessory before the fact to a violent felony, being an accessory after the fact to murder, being a felon in illegal possession of a firearm and threatening the life of a public official in cases that are still pending in Horry County.

This story was originally published December 11, 2017 at 12:33 PM with the headline "Murder trial delayed for 2014 Carolina Forest shooting."