On the evening of September 23, 2016, violence erupted in the Liberty Hill neighborhood of North Charleston, South Carolina, claiming the life of 47-year-old Ivan Greene, an African American male resident of the area. Greene was situated near his home on Hassell Avenue when a Lincoln Navigator SUV approached the scene. According to witness accounts and police reports, occupants of the vehicle opened fire, striking Greene who was standing across the street.
The chaotic sequence continued as the driver of the SUV lost control, causing the vehicle to careen down the road and crash into a telephone pole. Following the collision, three armed men were observed fleeing the wreckage on foot, leaving the injured victim and the disabled vehicle behind.
Emergency responders transported Greene to the Medical University Hospital, where he ultimately succumbed to his gunshot wounds. Meanwhile, investigators began processing the abandoned SUV, which became a crucial piece of evidence in the homicide inquiry. Inside the vehicle, authorities recovered a cellphone and lifted latent fingerprints that helped them piece together the identities of the individuals involved. The forensic examination of the Lincoln Navigator played a pivotal role in linking specific suspects to the crime scene, allowing detectives to move forward with warrants.
In the months following the shooting, police focused their efforts on two primary suspects identified through the forensic evidence and witness lineups. By early December 2016, authorities arrested 25-year-old Maurice Dionne Washington of North Charleston, charging him with murder and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime. Affidavits indicated that his fingerprints had been found inside the crashed SUV. Investigators alleged that Washington was one of the individuals who had ambushed Greene that September night.
The manhunt continued for the second identified suspect, 25-year-old Randall Myers of Charleston. Police located and arrested him on December 20, 2016, leveling identical charges of murder and weapon possession against him. The investigation revealed that the cellphone found in the abandoned vehicle belonged to Myers, and witnesses had picked both him and Washington out of photo lineups as the shooters. The case also entangled Myers' mother, 49-year-old Patricia Myers, who faced charges of obstruction of justice. Authorities alleged she had impeded the investigation by withholding information about her son's whereabouts and was taken into custody after boarding a cruise ship at the Port of Charleston.
