Horry County man convicted of murder for shooting unarmed man who refused to join gang

A Loris man was convicted Wednesday of murder and attempted murder for an April 24, 2018 shooting that killed 20-year-old Charles Durant II and injured his 19-year-old girlfriend, the 15th circuit solicitor’s office said in a news release. 

Judge Thomas Cooper presided over the trial and sentenced 28-year-old Tyshawn Brown to life in prison for murder and 30 years in prison for attempted murder, the solicitor’s office said, adding that Brown will spend the rest of his natural life incarcerated. 

Durant and his girlfriend were in a vehicle at the intersection of Spring and Church streets in Loris when Brown drove to the location, jumped out of his vehicle and fired multiple times into the car, hitting Durant and his girlfriend, according to the news release. “Multiple people saw the shooting and provided police with information regarding the incident,” the release added. 

The solicitor’s office said Brown shot Durant for refusing to be part of a Blood-affiliated street gang to which Brown belonged. The news release said Brown burned his clothes, ditched the murder weapon and fled the county after shooting. He was arrested in New York in February 2022 and detained on drug charges before he was returned to Horry County and held until his murder trial.

“Mr. Durant’s family have been really involved in this case from the beginning. He was their only son, a good kid, and loved by so many in the community,” said senior assistant solicitor Josh Holford in a news release. “That was made evident by the number of friends and family who showed up to trial in support of Durant, the female victim, and their family.” 

Holford, who prosecuted the case, said the woman wasn’t being identified to protect her privacy.

“She and her family have also been involved from day one. It takes a lot of strength and courage it took to stand up and face the man who shot and killed her boyfriend and tried to kill her,” Holford said in the news release. “There wasn’t a fight between them, this wasn’t over drugs, this wasn’t a robbery, and Durant did not have any weapons. There is really no reason for it. This was a truly senseless murder.”

Holford thanked Horry County police for their work investigating the case and the witnesses who identified Brown as the suspect.