On a Tuesday evening in Loris, South Carolina, the life of 20-year-old Charles Edward Durant II was tragically cut short. On April 24, 2018, while sitting in a truck at a stop sign at the intersection of Spring Street and Church Street with his girlfriend, another vehicle pulled up alongside them. A man emerged and opened fire into their vehicle, killing Durant at the scene and severely injuring his girlfriend.
The senseless act of violence was later revealed to be the result of Durant's
refusal to join a local street gang. The man who fired the shots was identified as Tyshawn 'Smoke' Brown, a 25-year-old member of a Bloods set. Following the shooting, Brown fled Horry County, burned his clothes, and disposed of the murder weapon. He remained a fugitive for nearly two years before being apprehended in New York on unrelated drug charges in February 2020.
After his arrest, Brown was extradited back to Horry County to face justice. In August 2022, a jury found Tyshawn Brown guilty of the murder of Charles Durant II and the attempted murder of his girlfriend. He was subsequently sentenced to life in prison. Another individual, Heath Reaves, was also in the vehicle with Brown at the time of the shooting and had pending charges in connection with the incident.
Charles, known to some as 'little Bo,' was remembered by his father as a 'good spirited kid, a church-going young man.' He was a graduate of Green Sea Floyds High School and was studying real estate at Horry-Georgetown Technical College with aspirations of selling property near the beach. He and his girlfriend had plans to eventually move to the Charlotte area.
