State Law Enforcement Division agents searched the home and North Myrtle Beach restaurant of Weldon Boyd on Monday, June 8 — three days after his attorneys filed a motion asking a judge to reverse an earlier ruling that stripped him of legal immunity — as a South Carolina State Grand Jury continues its investigation into whether Horry County police officers improperly shielded Boyd following his fatal 2023 road rage shooting of Scott Spivey, 33. The search, the contents of which authorities have not disclosed, marks the most significant law-enforcement action directed at Boyd since the case began, and comes as a judge weighs whether to dismiss a separate lawsuit Boyd filed against Spivey's family attorney — a legal maneuver that, if allowed to proceed, could set a precedent with implications for how attorneys in South Carolina communicate with the media during civil litigation.
Nearly three years after Spivey was shot dead on Camp Swamp Road in the Longs area of Horry County and no criminal charges were ever filed, the case has metastasized into a tangle of civil lawsuits, a public corruption investigation, and a State Grand Jury probe with the power to issue criminal indictments. For the Spivey family, the SLED search represents the possibility that the criminal accountability the state declined to pursue in 2024 may yet materialize through a different door.
What Led to the SLED Search: Three Years Without Criminal Charges
Boyd, the owner of Buoys on the Boulevard restaurant in North Myrtle Beach, and his passenger, Kenneth "Bradley" Williams, shot and killed Spivey, a Tabor City, North Carolina, resident, on September 9, 2023, following a road rage encounter along Camp Swamp Road. Both men maintained they fired in self-defense. Horry County police initially characterized Spivey as the aggressor. The South Carolina Attorney General's Office, after a seven-month review, declined to prosecute Boyd or Williams in April 2024, citing insufficient evidence.
That decision did not end the scrutiny. Recordings obtained by Spivey's family during civil discovery revealed that Boyd had held a series of phone calls after the shooting with his close friend Brandon Strickland, then a deputy police chief at the Horry County Police Department. In those recorded calls, Strickland told Boyd he had been working "in the shadows" even though he could not respond to the scene the night of the shooting. Strickland also told Boyd he had contacted the captain overseeing investigations and the local solicitor following the incident.
After those recordings became public, SLED opened an investigation into potential misconduct by HCPD officers in their handling of the Spivey case. Strickland resigned. Attorney General Alan Wilson, whose office had already ruled the Stand Your Ground law applicable, wrote to 7th Circuit Solicitor Barry Barnette in October 2025 asking him to review both the SLED misconduct findings and whether the original decision not to charge Boyd remained sound if the misconduct altered the factual record. Barnette impaneled a State Grand Jury in February 2026.
Boyd Lost Stand Your Ground Immunity After a Judge Found Him Not Credible
The Spivey family's wrongful death lawsuit — filed in June 2024 by Spivey's sister, Jennifer Foley — triggered a Stand Your Ground immunity hearing in February 2026 before Horry County Circuit Court Judge Eugene C. Griffith Jr. South Carolina's Protection of Persons and Property Act, enacted in 2006, grants immunity from both criminal prosecution and civil lawsuits when a court finds that deadly force was lawfully used. It is considered among the broadest such statutes in the country, removing the duty to retreat in any place where a person is lawfully present.
Judge Griffith denied immunity to Boyd on February 21, 2026, following four days of testimony. The judge found Boyd's courtroom testimony lacking in credibility in multiple respects. Among the evidence the judge weighed: a recording in which Boyd told his grandmother, shortly after the shooting, that he had enjoyed the encounter and gotten an adrenaline rush from it, and that it was unfortunate that some parents were grieving because their son had done something stupid. Boyd said at the hearing that he had used dark humor to cope with the aftermath.
The judge denied immunity to Williams, Boyd's passenger, on March 6, 2026, issuing a written order that found Williams had failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that he was entitled to immunity. The judge noted that Williams had told Boyd to slow down during the encounter and, moments before the shooting, had told Boyd to back up the truck.
Boyd filed a motion on June 4, 2026, asking the court to reverse the March 11, 2026, written immunity denial order. That motion is pending.
What Is the South Carolina State Grand Jury, and What Can It Do?
The South Carolina State Grand Jury was created by the legislature in 1989 to investigate complex criminal matters that cross county lines or involve public corruption. It has statewide subpoena power and is advised by the Attorney General. Its proceedings are conducted in secret. If it returns an indictment, the case is transferred to the county where the alleged offense occurred for prosecution.
Public corruption — defined broadly to include misconduct in office and abuse of official authority — falls squarely within the State Grand Jury's jurisdiction. The probe impaneled by Solicitor Barnette is focused on how the Horry County Police Department conducted its initial investigation of Spivey's death: specifically, whether officers violated their duty to investigate impartially given Strickland's communications with Boyd.
Boyd has cooperated with law enforcement's requests throughout the process. His attorney, Kenneth Moss, confirmed the June 8 SLED search and said Boyd provided agents with codes and keys to access his properties, including the restaurant. "He's fully cooperating as he has for every request from law enforcement that he's ever received," Moss said.
Boyd Sues Opposing Counsel, Claiming Tinsley Sought Celebrity Status at His Expense
While the criminal-track investigation gathered momentum, Boyd opened a second front in the civil courts. In November 2025, Boyd filed a lawsuit against Mark Tinsley — the attorney representing Spivey's family in the wrongful death case — alleging that Tinsley had manufactured and disseminated a false narrative about the shooting through coordinated media outreach, not for the benefit of his client, but to enhance his own public profile.
Tinsley is a prominent South Carolina trial lawyer who gained national recognition as the attorney for the family of Mallory Beach, who died in a 2019 boat crash linked to Paul Murdaugh. During the 2023 trial of Alex Murdaugh for the murders of his wife and son, Judge Clifton Newman described Tinsley as the "tiger" on Murdaugh's tail. Boyd's complaint argued that Tinsley had learned from the Murdaugh proceedings that high-profile media engagement elevated his influence and client base, and that he was applying the same strategy in the Spivey case.
The complaint alleged that Tinsley released body camera and dashcam footage selectively to media organizations, triggering extensive coverage that Boyd's team said made it impossible for him to receive a fair trial in South Carolina. Boyd's attorney, Desa Ballard, told the judge at the June 10, 2026, hearing that Tinsley's purpose was self-promotion, not client representation.
"What was the defendant trying to do? Was he trying to help a client?" Ballard said in court. "The answer is obviously no. He wants to be a celebrity. He's doing it at the cost of my client, and that cannot be allowed."
Tinsley called the lawsuit "baseless and flawed."
Judge Weighs Precedent That Could Chill Attorney Media Communications
Tinsley's attorney, John Thomas Lay, argued at the June 10 hearing that none of Tinsley's public statements about the case had been improper, and that allowing the lawsuit to proceed would produce a chilling effect on attorneys who speak to journalists.
"Just think about if this is allowed to go forth," Lay said. "In every lawsuit in which there is any situation in which a lawyer contacts the media, there's gonna be a lawsuit."
Lay also argued that the gag order Boyd's team cited was not yet in place when the events in question took place.
The judge asked Boyd's attorney whether the complaint was directed at Tinsley as a lawyer or as a private individual — a distinction that matters for determining whether professional responsibility rules or ordinary defamation standards govern the claim. The judge took the motion to dismiss under advisement and is expected to rule the week of June 15.
Legal observers have noted that a defendant suing an opposing attorney for media statements has few, if any, clear precedents in South Carolina civil practice. A ruling that allows the case to proceed could encourage similar suits in high-profile litigation, while a dismissal would reaffirm existing norms that permit attorneys substantial latitude in discussing pending matters with the press.
What Comes Next
The wrongful death lawsuit — Foley v. Boyd and Williams — remains pending in Horry County. Both defendants have been stripped of Stand Your Ground immunity. Boyd's motion to reconsider that ruling has not yet been decided.
The State Grand Jury investigation into HCPD misconduct continues. Attorney General Wilson has indicated that if the misconduct probe surfaces evidence materially altering the factual record, Solicitor Barnette has authority to reconsider whether criminal charges against Boyd and Williams are warranted. That possibility — criminal charges in a case where the state declined to prosecute nearly two years ago — is the thread that makes the SLED search more than a procedural development.
Frequently Asked Questions
Was Weldon Boyd charged with a crime in the Spivey shooting?
No criminal charges have been filed against Weldon Boyd or Kenneth Williams in the death of Scott Spivey. The South Carolina Attorney General's Office declined to prosecute in April 2024, citing insufficient evidence. However, a State Grand Jury is actively investigating potential misconduct by Horry County Police Department officers in their handling of the case, and Attorney General Alan Wilson has indicated that findings from that probe could lead to a reconsideration of whether charges against Boyd are warranted.
What is South Carolina's Stand Your Ground law, and why was Boyd denied immunity?
South Carolina's Protection of Persons and Property Act grants immunity from civil and criminal liability when a court finds that deadly force was lawfully used in self-defense. Boyd sought immunity in the Spivey family's wrongful death lawsuit, but Circuit Court Judge Eugene Griffith denied it in February 2026, finding Boyd's testimony not credible in multiple respects. The judge pointed in part to recorded statements Boyd made after the shooting in which he said he had enjoyed the incident and gotten an adrenaline rush from it.
Can a defendant sue the opposing attorney for speaking to the media?
A defendant suing opposing counsel for media statements is legally unusual and has few clear precedents in South Carolina civil practice. Boyd's lawsuit against attorney Mark Tinsley, filed in November 2025, argues that Tinsley released video footage and made public statements not to serve his client but to elevate his own public profile. Tinsley's attorneys argue the case should be dismissed and that allowing it to proceed would give any litigant grounds to sue opposing counsel whenever that attorney speaks to a journalist. A judge is expected to rule on the dismissal motion the week of June 15.
What is the South Carolina State Grand Jury investigating in this case?
The State Grand Jury, impaneled in February 2026 by 7th Circuit Solicitor Barry Barnette, is investigating whether Horry County Police Department officers engaged in misconduct in their initial investigation of Spivey's death. The probe centers on recordings in which then-Deputy Police Chief Brandon Strickland told Boyd he had been working "in the shadows" on his behalf and had contacted senior investigators and the local solicitor after the shooting. Strickland resigned from the department after the recordings became public.
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