Judge sentences Myrtle Beach student in Bike Week murder

The 16 year old Myrtle Beach High student charged in connection to the Corey Brooks murder during this year’s Memorial Day Bike Week, pleaded guilty to minor in possession of a firearm charge on June 13.

A family court judge sentenced the juvenile to prison until his 21st birthday at a hearing Tuesday morning in Conway.

The student, whom will go unnamed because of his age, told family court judge Jan Holmes that he was guilty of the charge and did understand what a guilty plea would mean during the June 13 hearing.

Family court judge Jan B. Holmes told the juvenile her sentence was the maximum allowed by law, but would have given him more years if she could.

The juvenile told the Brooks family, “I’d like to apologize to the family and I am taking responsibility for my actions and I am sorry,” when the judge allowed him to speak before the sentence was handed down.

The Brooks family declined to comment following the hearing.

Investigators said the juvenile supplied two others charged with murder in the case with a .22 caliber pistol, then tried to dispose of the gun following the shooting.

The juvenile is one of three co-defendants charged in the May 25 shooting death of Brooks at a beach house on 3rd Avenue North in Myrtle Beach.

Witnesses said Brooks and the two others charged in the shooting, 19 year old Keion Griffin of Myrtle Beach and 17 year old Myrtle Beach High School student, Demario Stukes, got into a fight just before Brooks was shot in the back.

Both Griffin and Stukes face murder charges from the shooting.

Prosecutor, Donna Elder, told Judge Stephen John during a bond hearing for Griffin and Stukes in June that the juvenile handed Griffin and Stukes the .22 caliber murder weapon earlier in the day on May 25.

Elder said a friend of Brooks got into a fight with Stukes after the two argued over a parking spot at the beach house the night of the shooting.

Elder said during the fight, Griffin shot Brooks in the back, killing him as Brooks and his friend ran away from the fight.

All three suspects left the scene following the shooting, according to investigators.

Elder told the judge investigators tracked the suspects down after looking over the trios MySpace pages and found a distinctive piece of clothing in a picture that tied them to the crime scene.

That piece of clothing was a hat left behind at the crimes scene that investigators said they spotted in one of the juvenile’s MySpace profile pictures which police said they used to link the juvenile to the crime.

Investigators found the murder weapon in a trash can at a vacant home beside the juvenile’s home, according to prosecutors.

Holmes ordered the juvenile to undergo pre-sentencing evaluations at DJJ’s Midlands Regional Evaluation Center in Columbia for up to a 45 day period during the June 13 hearing.

It took Myrtle Beach police, the State Law Enforcement Division, and the 15th Circuit Solicitor’s Office almost five days to identify and charge the three in the Brooks murder.

Police used witness statements and a photo line up to identify the suspects, according to investigators.

A county magistrate denied Stukes and Griffin bond at an initial appearance last month in Conway.

Judge Stephen John denied bond for 19 year old Keion Griffin calling him a danger to the community during the bond hearing last month.

John set bond at $50,000 on Myrtle Beach High School senior, DeMario Stukes and ordered him to live with his mother and step father in Columbia under GPS monitoring and imposed a curfew of 7 p.m.

John ordered the GPS monitoring to be done through the Richland County Sheriff’s Office.

You can count on News13 to continue to follow this story as details become available.