Monday, Nov. 02, 2009

Motorcycle rally-related trial set to begin

MYRTLE BEACH - The trial for a Myrtle Beach teen charged in the fatal shooting of a Coastal Carolina University student will begin today in a case that ignited the push in Myrtle Beach to change the May motorcycle rallies.

Keion M. Griffin, 19, is charged with murder and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime in the May 25, 2008, shooting of 20-year-old Corey Brooks.

Pretrial motions and jury selection are scheduled for today at the Horry County Government and Justice Center in Conway. Testimony in the trial is expected to begin following those hearings.

Griffin is among three Myrtle Beach youths charged in connection with Brooks' death.

A 16-year-old, who was charged as a juvenile, was sentenced in July 2008 to remain in custody until his 21st birthday after he pleaded guilty the month before to possession of a handgun.

Demario Stukes, 18, also is charged with murder, and his case is pending.

Brooks was shot once in the back in front of a house on Third Avenue North between Flagg and Chester streets in Myrtle Beach.

Officials allege Griffin shot Brooks after a fight between Stukes and one of Brooks' friends that Brooks tried to end. The men argued about a vehicle with several girls inside that pulled into a parking spot near the home so Griffin and Stukes could talk with the girls.

In the fall of 2008, Myrtle Beach City Council members approved 15 ordinances and amendments in an effort to curtail the rallies. The ordinances included a local helmet law, a heightened noise ordinance and a juvenile curfew.

The Harley-Davidson Spring Cruisin' the Coast and Atlantic Beach Bikefest rallies, which annually had drawn about half a million people to the beach, occur in May, and The Pilgrimage is held in the fall.

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