Man says he’s serving life sentence for crime his brother committed, sues for new trial
Travis Detron Bellamy is in the 12th year of a life sentence he is serving for a crime he says he didn’t commit.
This month, Bellamy filed for post-conviction relief in Horry County Court, asking for a new trial. A relief request is typically a last-appeal effort by a defendant where they describe why they should get a new trail. Appeals usually detail errors made by lawyers, and Bellamy says new witness testimony is available in his case.
In March 2007, three men broke into a home on Marsh Glenn Drive. The group woke a couple up from bed at gunpoint and tied them up. They ransacked the house while searching for a safe, while threatening to kill the victims, according to police reports.
After not finding the safe they stole $3,000 worth of jewelry, $300 in cash and the man’s Dodge Caravan. Bellamy was arrested and charged later that year.
James Kenneth Allison, Bellamy’s brother, confessed that he was responsible for the armed robbery and first degree burglary that his brother is in prison for, according to two close friends who came forward recently to testify to Bellamy’s lawyers about the crime. Their testimonies are detailed in court documents attached to the Post Conviction Relief.
Ex-girlfriend testimony
Lakisha Graham testified that she was dating Allison in 2007. One night he called, asking for a ride from his father’s house. She drove over and waited for Allison. It was late and she was getting impatient when a van pulled in with Allison and two other men inside.
Bellamy came outside the house and talked to one of the men “exchanging harsh words,” according to testimony. One of the men handed Bellamy a small package and they all left the house. Allison climbed into Graham’s car.
On the drive home, Graham noticed Allison was looking at jewelry that he had laid out on his lap. When she asked about it he shoved it into his pocket and said he found it. The two broke up shortly after.
Six years later Graham was shopping and bumped into Allison. He was acting strange and looked “rough.” When she asked what was wrong, Allison told her that his brother was in prison for a robbery that he committed the night she picked him up years ago. The package that the man handed Bellamy was an ATM card that he said belonged to his girlfriend, in exchange for money he owed Bellamy.
According to Allison, using the card is what got Bellamy arrested.
Allison begged Graham not to tell anyone and that he was working up the courage to turn himself in but was scared of a life sentence. He also hoped that his brother would forgive him.
Months later Allison died in a car accident.
Years later, in 2020, Graham told Allison’s father about the confession. He asked Graham to talk to a lawyer about Allison’s confession and she did.
Friend testimony
Jonathon Ellerbee was a longtime friend of Allison, and after Bellamy was sentenced he noticed a change in his friend’s behavior, according to his testimony.
In 2013, Allison finally told his friend that he was responsible for the crime that put Bellamy in prison and he was scared to speak up about it. He asked Ellerbee not to tell anyone.
“He wanted to do it himself so that Travis (Bellamy) might forgive him,” the testimony states.
In the summer of 2020, Allison’s father contacted Ellerbee and asked him to speak to Bellamy’s lawyers and he obliged.
A new trial?
Post conviction relief requests rarely turn into new trials for the convicted. Tara Shurling, Bellamy’s lawyer, declined to comment on the case and new witnesses.
He has filed a prior Post Conviction Relief in 2011 that was denied. He appealed the decision and was denied again. In 2017 he retained a lawyer, Shurling, who is filing the civil lawsuit on his behalf.
Bellamy is being held at the Lieber Correctional Institution in Ridgeville, S.C.
