Marion County sheriff’s deputies have arrested three suspects in connection with a Jan. 11 beating in Mullins they say may have been part of a gang initiation.
Seventeen-year-olds Tashawn Daheen Williams and William Dewitt and 19-year-old Lakeisha Ann Williams, all of Marion, are each charged with common law robbery, first-degree burglary and second-degree lynching. Lakeisha Williams also is charged with assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature. All three remain in custody at the Marion County Detention Center.
The incident happened about 5 p.m. Jan. 11 at a home on Long Point Drive. Two women forced their way into the residence through the back door, according to a sheriff’s office incident report. When the victims managed to get them out of the house, they came back in through a front door.
One of the residents, Linda Legette, asked the two women to leave when they began arguing with her 15-year-old granddaughter. When they started fighting with the teen, Legette’s daughter asked them again to leave. The two women grabbed Legette’s daughter, pulled her out of the house and began hitting and kicking her in the head.
The incident report shows four men entered the fray, dragging the 36-year-old victim and holding her arms while her two female attackers continued beating her. Legette said she tried to break up the fight, but one of the female suspects struck her in the abdomen.
The victims said a cell phone, a $400 money order and $20 in cash were stolen during the attack, and all suspects fled the scene before deputies arrived, the report shows.
The victims also said one of the men videotaped the attack, which is one reason deputies said they think the incident could be gang-related, sheriff’s investigator Paul James said.
Legette’s daughter was treated at an area hospital for injuries to her face and one of her feet, according to the report.
Initially, reports suggested the incident was gang related, however, Sheriff Mark Richardson said Friday that the fight was not gang related and that two of the girls arguing is what started the fight. The judge will have to set bond, he added.
Sheriff’s investigators are working to secure warrants for three juvenile suspects in the crime. The victims identified each of the suspects by name to investigators.
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