Cold case arrest: Horry police say they charged suspect in Myrtle Beach Mall killing
It’s been more than four years since Frances “Mae” Davis was gunned down in the Myrtle Beach Mall parking lot. For more than 1,500 days, police did not make an arrest in the case — until Friday.
Horry County police charged Dominique Hemingway, 26, of Tabor City, N.C., with murder in connection to Davis’ 2016 slaying. He was also charged with possession of a weapon during a violent crime and armed robbery.
“Nothing can make up for a loss like this,” Horry County police Deputy Chief Ken Davis said at a Friday news conference announcing the arrest. “This is a tough day for some folks, and it’s a great day because we’re finding some justice.”
Frances Davis was shot in her car in the Myrtle Beach Mall parking lot on Jan. 8, 2016. Davis was found slumped over in her passenger seat with her purse missing around 12:15 p.m. She was shot the day before her 79th birthday.
Horry County police investigated the case for four years while Frances Davis’ children pleaded for information about who killed their mom. Detectives administratively closed and declared it a cold case until Friday’s announcement.
Chief Joe Hill was mum on many details of what caused investigators to tie Hemingway to the crime. He did say information from a community member led to the arrest.
“Four years it took us to get to this point in the investigation,” Hill said.
One of Frances Davis’ daughters, Michele Gagne, spoke briefly during the conference and thanked Horry County police for their work.
“This has been very hard on our family,” she said.
Francis Davis’ family also filed a civil lawsuit against the mall over their mom’s death.
Even though police just recently charged Hemingway with murder, he has been in custody for a few years. Horry County police charged him in connection to an October 2017 robbery. Myrtle Beach accused him of two 2016 robberies near the beachfront.
In the Horry County case, a 49-year-old woman said she was returning to her home on U.S. 701 when she saw a shadow in her carport. The woman said a black man tried to get inside her home and when she went to push him out, a second man forced his way inside.
One of the suspects put a gun to her head and demanded her cash, and another asked “where the food was at and if she had a husband,” according to a police report.
Hemingway was also charged in connection to separate April 2016 robberies in Myrtle Beach. One robbery was of a 53-year-old woman at 4th Avenue North and Ocean Boulevard, according to Cpl. Thomas Vest. The victim was walking from her car to her hotel when she was robbed.
The other robbery happened near 30th Avenue North and the beach and involved a 51-year-old woman.
Those cases all remain active in Horry County court.
This story was originally published February 28, 2020 at 1:02 PM.
