Attorney of man involved in Little River mass shooting says client had no role in violence.
HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) — The attorney of a man accused of taking part in a Little River mass shooting earlier this month is speaking out for the first time, insisting 19-year-old Shawon Williams had nothing to do with the violence.
“The immediate aftermath, as you can imagine, there’s a lot going on there. A lot of people were fleeing the scene trying to get away, and Mr. Williams ended up with this juvenile in his vehicle during all of that,” O’Brien Martin said Monday. “At that time, he had no knowledge that the juvenile had any responsibility for the shooting.”
The May 25 shooting party boat shooting left 11 people hurt. Williams was taken into custody two weeks later in Lake County, Ill., and charged with being an accessory after the fact.
Williams, who is free on a $15,000 bond, must remain in Little River with his mother.
A former U.S. Navy sailor, Martin said Williams’ actions on the night of the incident were “ill-advised,” and that he was an acquaintance of the 16-year-old accused of opening fire from a Little River dock.
Martin said Williams gave the suspect — who now faces eight counts of attempted murder — a ride from the boat dock, but returned to the scene a short time later with no knowledge that the shooting would take place.
Williams graduated from North Myrtle Beach High School in 2023 and was in the Navy.
Williams’ mother — Jacklyn Bellamy — and his aunt, Griselda Redd, were two of the party hosts. News13 spoke on the phone with Redd, who claims Williams came back to the scene and spoke with detectives.
“Shawon was not the shooter. He didn’t have a gun, he did not present a gun,” Redd said. “This is the fifth year Jackie has had this party. And if Jackie was a problem or the company felt Jackie was a liability or anything like that, Jackie wouldn’t be able to continue to do what she was doing.”
