In the quiet city of Conway, South Carolina, a nearly four-year-old mystery surrounding the death of a young man finally found a resolution. Jahalil Raheem Rashad Drayton, a 21-year-old male, was discovered with a gunshot wound in the back room of a home on 5th Avenue on the night of April 3, 2016. He was initially found breathing but unresponsive and was rushed to Grand Strand Regional Medical Center, where he succumbed to his injuries.
For years, the investigation into Drayton's death
grew cold, leaving his family and the community searching for answers. Despite the efforts of the Conway Police Department, every lead seemed to dry up, and the case remained unsolved. New detectives and advancements in technology brought fresh eyes to the case, but still, no arrests were made. The family’s persistent pleas for new information and witnesses were instrumental in keeping the case alive in the public's consciousness.
A break in the case finally came in early 2020. On January 9, 2020, Conway police announced they had charged Antonio Xavier Mccray with the murder of Jahalil Drayton. Mccray was already in custody at the J. Reuben Long Detention Center on charges related to a series of business robberies that occurred in late 2019. The new evidence that led to Mccray's arrest in the murder case was not directly linked to the robbery investigations. After nearly 1,400 days, the diligent work of detectives and the unwavering hope of Drayton's family led to the long-awaited arrest, bringing a sense of closure to a case that had long haunted the community.
