Conway man sentenced for role in 2017 Myrtle Beach motel room killing
A Conway man has been sentenced to nearly 20 years for his role in a 2017 shooting at a Myrtle Beach motel, the Fifteenth Circuit Solicitor Office announced in a Monday afternoon news release.
Larry Carter, 26, pleaded guilty Thursday to voluntary manslaughter in the January 2017 shooting at the Lazy G Motel.
Josh Holford, senior assistant solicitor, prosecuted the case for the 15th Circuit Solicitor’s Office. Carter was sentenced to 18 years in prison for the “violent, most serious charge,” and is not eligible for parole, according to the news release.
The shooting
Rashad Atkins, 33, was fatally shot during what officials said was a drug-related robbery. Myrtle Beach police responded to a call for shots fired at the bar around 3:41 a.m. on Dec. 24 and reported seeing several vehicles leaving the location. Multiple shell casings were found inside and outside the bar and officers spotted a trail of blood in the parking lot, according to a police report.
Carter was identified as the person who shot Atkins by the two surviving witnesses who were in the motel room at the time of the shooting, the news release said.
Known by friends as RJ, Atkins was originally from High Point, N.C., where he graduated from T. Wingate Andrews High School, according to his Facebook profile. He went on to study at Guilford Technical Community College in Jamestown, N.C., before moving to Myrtle Beach, where he lived with his wife and children.
Carter was originally charged with murder, possessing a weapon during the commission of a violent crime, kidnapping and armed robbery. He was arrested in Rock Hill.
Malik Crawford, who was 19 at the time of the shooting, was originally charged as well. The kidnapping and weapons charges have been dropped but the murder and armed robbery charges are still pending.
“Officers with the Myrtle Beach Police Department did a great job using license plate information, cell phone data, facial recognition, witness statements, and city cameras to track down all the people who had been in and out of the motel room,” Holford said. “Many of them using or purchasing drugs throughout the day, to get to the bottom of who was inside at the time of the shooting, and who committed the crime.”
This story was originally published June 22, 2021 at 2:07 PM.
