N.C. man sentenced to probation in Conway teen’s shooting in mall parking lot

A North Carolina man pleaded guilty in the fatal shooting of a Conway High School student and was sentenced Tuesday to three years on probation, according to authorities.

Zachary Dwayne Floyd, 20, pleaded guilty Tuesday to involuntary manslaughter before Circuit Court Judge Benjamin Culbertson, who sentenced him under the Youthful Offender Act not to exceed five years, according to court records. Floyd’s sentence was suspended upon his service of three years on probation and pay court costs.

Since Floyd is from Fairmont, N.C., Culbertson ordered that the probation could be transferred to North Carolina.

In March, an Horry County grand jury indicted Floyd on the charge in the shooting death of 17-year-old Rachel Nicole Lewis, who died Nov. 29. Floyd has been free on $5,000 bail since his release Dec. 1.

Lewis, who was a junior at Conway High, died after being shot in the head while inside a black Chevrolet Tahoe in the parking lot of Myrtle Beach mall, Horry County police said. Lewis had recently begun dating Floyd when the incident occurred.

At the time of Lewis’ death, Horry County police Lt. Chip Squires said “the weapon was being negligently handled by the individual charged in the case.”

Floyd had the .40-caliber handgun in his vehicle, which was parked outside the mall, Squires said. It had not been a recent purchase, Squires said.

In a police report, officers wrote Floyd “was playing with the gun and he dropped the clip from the gun and fired one shot toward the roof of the Tahoe.”

A witness told officers they saw Lewis slump over the center console of the vehicle after the shot, according to the report. She was pronounced dead at Grand Strand Regional Medical Center shortly before 9 p.m. Nov. 29, Horry County Chief Deputy Coroner Tamara Willard said.

Floyd told authorities he thought the gun was empty when he dropped the clip into the console of the vehicle, according to the report. Officers found the handgun inside the vehicle with a magazine clip next to the cup holder.

Floyd had no prior criminal arrests in South Carolina, according to a records check with the State Law Enforcement Division.

This story was originally published May 19, 2015 at 3:31 PM with the headline "N.C. man sentenced to probation in Conway teen’s shooting in mall parking lot."