Update: SC cross-burning suspect charged for doing jumping jacks while topless in her yard
The woman accused of setting a cross on fire that faced her Black neighbors’ house was arrested on Sunday on obscenity and indecent exposure charges, according to court documents.
Alexis Hartnett’s official charge is “exposure of private parts in a lewd and lascivious manner,” according to online booking reports.
The Horry County Police report states that Hartnett was shirtless while doing jumping jacks and screaming in her front yard on March 2. A neighbor saw the scene from outside his window, took a video and reported the incident on March 8.
Hartnett was arrested on Sunday and has been been given a $10,000 bond and put on house arrest. That means that she was allowed to return to her home.
The 27-year-old lives outside Conway with her boyfriend Worden Butler. Butler and Hartnett, who are white, have been accused of harassing their Black neighbors with racial slurs and erecting a cross over the privacy fence and setting it on fire, according to The Sun News. The cross-burning incident occurred around Thanksgiving.
This resulted in Butler and Hartnett being charged with harassment and Hartnett also being charged with assault.
According to court documents, Hartnett and Butler have been disturbing and threatening neighbors for years. Multiple neighbors stated Hartnett has a history of being nude in her front yard, has threatened to kill neighbors and once spit inside a neighbor’s car, a court document stated. She has also allegedly threatened to kill a journalist using a machine gun.
It’s made it difficult for neighbors to do normal things, like property maintenance, due to Hartnett and Butler’s response. A neighbor’s contractor had to call the cops for protection so he could fix a water pipe, neighbors said.
Currently, Jimmy A. Richardson, the solicitor of the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, is attempting to remove Hartnett and Butler from their Corbett Drive home. He filed a complaint stating that they are public nuisances in late January.
Hartnett was supposed to appear for a hearing on March 6 for her assault and harassment charges, but it was continued because of Hartnett’s mental health problems, The Sun News reported.
The case has gained national attention, started an FBI investigation and the NAACP along with others are calling for South Carolina to pass a hate crime law.
This story was originally published March 10, 2024 at 2:28 PM.
