In the early morning hours of April 30, 2017, a night of entertainment at the P&R Club in Loris, South Carolina, descended into chaos and violence, leaving 37-year-old Laquint Oneil Boyd, a Black male, dead and several others wounded. The incident, which unfolded around 2:30 a.m. at the Green Sea Road establishment, stemmed from a dispute that spiraled into a deadly shootout. Boyd, a resident of the Loris and Tabor City areas, was an aspiring R&B singer and a father to young twins.
He was caught in the crossfire of a gun battle that erupted in the nightclub's parking lot.
According to witness accounts provided to the Horry County police, an argument that began inside the club between two men escalated dramatically once they moved outside. The verbal confrontation quickly turned into a firefight, with both men drawing weapons and shooting at each other. A security guard at the club reportedly intervened, firing his own weapon at the initial shooters. Amid the hail of bullets, Boyd was struck in the chest. He was rushed to Loris Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at approximately 3:35 a.m. In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, the scene was chaotic, with many patrons fleeing before law enforcement arrived.
The investigation that followed led to the arrests of three individuals. Earl Renaldo Williams, 28, of Longs, was taken into custody on the day of the shooting and faced a slew of charges, including attempted murder, obstructing justice, pointing a firearm at another person, and possessing a weapon during a violent crime. A few days later, on May 2, Willis Henry Boyd, the 31-year-old brother of the victim, was also arrested and charged with attempted murder, pointing a firearm at someone, and possession of a weapon during a violent crime. He was later released on bond.
Several months later, in August 2017, the investigation culminated in a third arrest. Dimnique Lequan Bellamy, 23, of Longs, was identified as the individual directly responsible for Boyd's death and was charged with murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime. At his initial bond hearing, the court denied his release, deeming him a potential flight risk and a danger to the community, citing a prior weapons charge from 2016. While initial reports indicated that the cases against Williams and Willis Boyd were pending in court, further details on the final legal outcomes, including any trials or convictions for the three suspects, have not been publicly reported. The shooting was also linked by police to another deadly drive-by shooting that occurred on the same night in the Longs area.
