Former SC coroner’s lover guilty of murdering ex-boyfriend. What’s her prison sentence?
Meagan Jackson has been found guilty of murdering her ex-boyfriend.
It took the jury about two hours to decide her fate.
Jackson was charged with murder and criminal conspiracy in connection with the 2020 death of her children’s father, Greg Rice. Her criminal conspiracy charge was dropped the morning of June 17 by Judge Benjamin Culbertson.
After a five-day trial, which consisted solely of witnesses called by the prosecution, the jury found Jackson guilty on Tuesday. The judge sentenced her to life in prison.
Jackson became almost motionless after the judge read the guilty verdict. She sat facing forward with her back straight and shoulders hunched. When asked if she wanted to say something, she shook her head and her lawyer had to verbally say no for her.
In the court room, Jackson and Rice’s daughter, Savannah Rice, had ample support from her boyfriend and others. They rubbed her back as she waited for Judge Culbertson to announce the jury’s ruling. Prosecutor Mary-Ellen Walter read the 19-year-old’s written statement aloud between the jury’s verdict and Jackson’s sentencing.
Savannah Rice requested her mother be sentenced to life in prison in her statement.
“This crime has torn apart my family, others’ families and friends beyond any measure. My siblings and I have all suffered greatly, not only from the loss of my father but the loss of a mother, too,” Walter read. “This trial and getting up on the stand has been one of the most heartbreaking and painful things I’ve ever had to do. It has also been one of the most relieving and rewarding things. I finally got to say what has been sitting in my brain the last four and a half years.”
Christopher Dontell, a former Horry County deputy coroner and co-defendant, pleaded guilty to criminal conspiracy charges and accessory after the fact in December 2024. Dontell admitted to dumping Rice’s body after Jackson shot him, Dontell testified. Dontell will be sentenced soon.
Afterwards, Walter said she felt “relieved” about Jackson being sent to prison for life.
What happened to Rice?
At the time of the crime, Dontell and Jackson were having an affair. They met at work, as they both worked as body transporters for several years. Dontell became a coroner in 2020.
Jackson declined to testify at the trial. Throughout court proceedings, she has kept her face neutral, appearing stressed at times. She began crying when Dontell testified that he saw her kill Rice.
Jackson allegedly shot Rice the night of Oct. 2, 2020. Dontell dumped his body in the Little Pee Dee River either late Oct. 3 or early Oct. 4, 2020. Fishermen found Rice early Nov. 8, 2020.
Two people stringing lines for catfish followed a foul smell to a gray tarp. Once they determined it was likely human remains, they called police, Donna Sue Soles testified. Police found a body wrapped in blankets then a tarp with a cinder block attached.
The body was later determined to be Rice. Police found a receipt and video showing Dontell purchasing the items found on Rice’s body at a Lowe’s Home Improvement on Oct. 3, 2020.
Dontell and Jackson began seeing each other in late 2019. At about the same time, Jackson moved with her four children into the same neighborhood as Dontell. Rice lived in an apartment elsewhere.
When living only a few streets over, Jackson became close with Dontell and his wife, and their children spent a lot of time together.
The evening of Oct. 2, Dontell and Jackson were hanging out, having gone to Lewis Ocean Bays Heritage Preserve to practice shooting and then went to dinner, Dontell testified. At one point, Jackson said she needed to visit Rice at his home and had Dontell drive her in her work van there.
Dontell said he pulled up next to Rice outside his Arrowhead apartment. Jackson opened the door and then began shooting at Rice, he said. She then had Dontell load the body into her van and they brought him to the Myrtle Beach Funeral Home, where they stored Rice’s body in the cooler, Dontell testified.
Dontell said Jackson threatened to kill him if he ever told anyone about what he saw that night.
The next morning, Jackson called for a welfare check on Rice after he did not answer his door and then filed a missing person report several days later. On Oct. 3, she told Dontell to dump Rice’s body and threatened him again, according to testimony.
Dontell said he lied to law enforcement for years about not seeing Jackson shoot Rice because he was afraid she would kill him or his family. He said he told the truth after his lawyer arranged for protection for his family.
This story was originally published June 17, 2025 at 2:28 PM.
