HORRY COUNTY, SC (WMBF) – One of the defendants in a civil lawsuit over a deadly road rage shooting in Horry County is asking the court to reconsider the court’s order denying immunity.
Kenneth “Bradley” Williams filed a motion on Monday asking the court to reconsider a judge’s March 6 decision to deny him immunity in a civil lawsuit against him and his friend, Weldon Boyd.
Weldon Boyd (left) Kenneth Williams Williams (right)(Keith Alan Jacobs)
Authorities said Boyd, the owner of Buoys on the Boulevard in North Myrtle Beach, shot and killed Scott Spivey along Camp Swamp Road in the Longs area following a road-rage incident in 2023.
Spivey’s family filed a lawsuit against Boyd and Williams in 2024, and the two claimed they shot in self-defense and sought immunity from the lawsuit under the stand-your-ground law.
South Carolina’s stand-your-ground law applies when the use of deadly force is deemed lawful.
After the hearing, the judge denied Boyd immunity immediately, finding that Boyd was not credible.
RELATED: ‘Stay back’: Judge denies Weldon Boyd’s request for immunity in stand-your-ground hearing
The judge took Williams’ request under advisement, stating that Williams did not want to be there, citing that Williams told Boyd to slow down while driving and, moments before the shooting, told Boyd to back the truck up.
Ultimately, the judge denied the request, but in the new filing, Williams said the court failed to identify any wrongful or unlawful acts he committed.
Williams again said that he did not want a confrontation, pointing toward evidence that he urged Boyd to back up and retreat when both trucks turned down Camp Swamp Road.
He also said that he did not demand that Boyd stop the truck and get out of it.
According to the motion, Williams only fired his weapon after Boyd and Spivey fired their guns.
The judge’s March 6 order that denied Williams immunity rejected Williams and Boyd’s claim that Spivey fired first, citing testimony played during the February stand-your-ground hearing.
Frank McMurrough, a witness, said that he drove by and saw Spivey with a gun pointed to the ground and the slide locked back, “indicating the gun was not in firing position.”
The order also stated that the testimony of McMurrough mostly aligned with the physical evidence.
McMurrough testified that he saw Boyd through the windshield with a two-handed grip, already aiming his gun over the dashboard at Spivey.
Moments before the shooting, McMurrough said that Spivey turned toward his truck, and his arm was only slightly raised, with his gun not pointing at Boyd’s truck.
Meanwhile, Boyd claims Spivey did a “Matrix move,” pulling the gun from his side and racking it before pointing it at them and firing.
Boyd and Williams have maintained they fired shots at Spivey in self-defense, and have never been criminally charged in the case.
The immunity ruling is noteworthy because if Boyd and Williams were granted immunity in the Spivey lawsuit, that would essentially end any potential criminal charges against them in the shooting.
In February, the Seventh Circuit Solicitor’s Office confirmed a grand jury will review the case.
A state grand jury is typically convened so prosecutors can present the facts and findings of a case to determine whether a person should be indicted.
The grand jury would have been dismissed if immunity had been granted.
Boyd has not filed a motion to reconsider immunity as of this writing.
Background
Days after the shooting, 15th Circuit Solicitor Jimmy Richardson asked the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office to get involved with the case.
In April 2024, the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office declined to charge Boyd, citing insufficient evidence.
Then, in August 2025, the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office told the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division that it believed the stand-your-ground law was applicable in the shooting death of Spivey.
Shooting investigation
The Horry County Police Department’s investigation of the shooting has come under fire.
Recorded phone calls of Boyd and former Horry County Deputy Chief Brandon Strickland speaking after the shooting notably captured Strickland speaking candidly about the case with Boyd.
Spivey’s family has claimed the investigation was mishandled from the start, possibly due to Boyd’s friendship with Strickland.
Strickland resigned following allegations of misconduct in the case.
Strickland was not the only one to leave the force as HCPD conducted an internal investigation.
Body camera clips attorneys shared from the Sept. 9, 2023, shooting captured HCPD Sgt. Paul Vescovi flashing a written note that read, “Act like a victim. Camera,” to two men, Boyd and Williams.
HCPD fired Vescovi. Documents from the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy indicate he is under investigation, but charges have not been filed against him.
The internal investigation also found that seven dashcam videos in HCPD’s investigation of the Camp Swamp Road shooting were improperly handled and mislabeled.
HCPD sent those videos to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, which is investigating whether HCPD officers engaged in any misconduct in the case.
AG asks for review of deadly Horry County road-rage shooting investigation
These allegations against HCPD’s investigation led Attorney General Alan Wilson to ask 7th Circuit Solicitor Barry Barnette in October to look over the investigation into the shooting death of Spivey.
Wilson stated in a letter to Barnette that, once details of the HCPD’s investigation reached civil attorney Mark Tinsley and Spivey’s family amid a lawsuit filed by his estate, questions about the case arose.
Wilson wants Barnette to review the case to see if the allegations of misconduct would change the initial finding by the attorney general’s office that the shooting falls under the stand-your-ground law.
On a podcast, Wilson said that if the review brings out new information that would change the stand-your-ground analysis, Barnette can make a different call and make “whatever prosecutive decisions” Barnette feels are appropriate.
Had Spivey survived, he would have been the one charged with a felony for driving under the influence and brandishing a firearm, Wilson said on the podcast.
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