On August 2, 2017, the community of Dillon, South Carolina, was shaken by the violent death of Carlos Castrell McKay, a 45-year-old Black / African American male who was discovered deceased in the early morning hours. The incident unfolded at the Reflexxions night club located on U.S. Highway 301 North, a venue that became the center of a homicide investigation after deputies from the Dillon County Sheriff’s Office responded to reports of gunfire.
Law enforcement officers were first
alerted to the situation around 2:41 a.m. when calls came in regarding a shooting at the club. Upon arrival, the chaotic scene initially yielded confusion, as one individual had already been transported to a hospital with gunshot wounds, leading authorities to first believe he was the primary victim of the violence. It was not until more than an hour later, during a search of the premises, that investigators made the grim discovery of McKay’s body behind the establishment. He had suffered fatal injuries during the altercation, turning the inquiry from an assault into a murder investigation.
As detectives pieced together the events of that morning, their focus shifted toward the man who had sought medical treatment. Identified as Christopher John Flowers, a 30-year-old resident of Laurinburg, North Carolina, he had been taken to Scotland Memorial Hospital by a personal vehicle shortly after the shooting. While Flowers was initially treated as a victim, inconsistencies and further evidence gathered at the scene led authorities to identify him as the suspect in McKay's death. A fugitive warrant for murder was subsequently issued by Dillon County officials.
The search for Flowers concluded quickly when law enforcement in his home state located him. Officers with the Laurinburg Police Department stopped a vehicle in which Flowers was traveling near North Main Street and Alder Road. During the traffic stop, police found Flowers in possession of a stolen firearm. He was immediately taken into custody and held at the Scotland County Detention Center, facing local charges for the weapons violation as well as the fugitive warrant for the murder of Carlos McKay in South Carolina. Two other men present in the vehicle at the time of the arrest were questioned but were not charged in connection with the homicide.
