CCU student shooting suspects attend bond hearing

On Wednesday, a circuit court judge denied bond for one of the three Myrtle Beach men charged in the shooting death of 20 year old Corey Brooks in May.

Both Demario Stukes and Keion Griffin appeared in a Conway courtroom shackled at their hands and wrists; both hoping to have a bond set so they could go free until their trial on murder and possession of a weapon charge.

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

Griffins' public defender, James Galmore asked the judge to set a bond on his client, calling Griffin a minimum risk to flee the area if released.

Galmore said Griffin denied the charges against him.

John set bond at $50,000 on Myrtle Beach High School senior, DeMario Stukes at $50,000 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 carried out through the Richland County Sheriff’s Office.

Stukes had no prior record, according to prosecutors.

Last week, the juvenile, 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, pleaded guilty to possession of a weapon by a minor.

A family court judge ordered the juvenile to the Department of Juvenile Services for a 45 day period before sentencing him.

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

Prosecutor, Donna Elder, told Judge Stephen John 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 the friend and Stukes argued over a parking spot at the beach house the night of the shooting.

Elder said during the fight, Brooks tried to help break up the fight before Griffin shot Brooks in the back, killing him.

All three suspects left the scene following the shooting.

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.

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

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, along with the MySpace accounts, according to investigators.

Elder said Griffin got out of jail on a $10,000 bond 10 days before the killing on assault and battery charges after he hit a man in the head with a broken bottle on Feb. 12, 2008.

In January 2008, police charged Griffin with attempted murder for a stabbing in Myrtle Beach, and a judge released Griffin on a $15,000 bond on the attempted murder charge.

A county magistrate denied Stukes and Griffin bond at an initial appearance last month in Conway on the murder and weapon charges.

No word yet on a trial date for Griffin and Stukes; a family court judge is set to sentence the juvenile in the next several weeks.