UPDATE: Third arrest in Sept. 2 TC murder

Devonate McCrea in the custody of Tabor City Police Capt. Greg Sibbett Friday afternoon. (Deuce Niven photo)

By DEUCE NIVEN

Monday update
    A third arrest was made Monday in the beating death of a Tabor City man in early September, Columbus County Detention Center records show.
    Prendaysheya Reaves, 19, of Miller Road, Tabor City, charged with murder and common law robbery, booked into the jail just before noon Monday.
    Devonate McCrea, 20 of Morning Dale Road, Conway, South Carolina, and Samari Vereen, 23, of Sandy Place Driver, Tabor City, were charged in the case Friday afternoon.
    All three are accused in the Sept. 2 death of Albert Phillip Grainger.
    McCrea was described by Special Agent Mac Warner of the State Bureau of Investigation as a “drifter” living between Tabor City and Conway, South Carolina.
    All three were held without bond.
    Grainger, 41, was found beaten to death in the middle of Bell Street, just a few doors down from his home at just before 1:30 on Sept. 2.
    Grainger’s wife, Debra Tyndall, told police her husband had gone downtown, to an ATM, to get money for breakfast the following morning, a police report said.
    Grainger was known to get about town on his bicycle. It was found on the street, just feet away from his body, bloodied and with severe trauma to his head, the report said.
    Look for more on this story in this week’s Tabor-Loris Tribune in print and online.

Friday post
    Two arrests have been made in the beating death of a Tabor City man in early September, Special Agent Mac Warner of the State Bureau of Investigation confirmed Friday.
    Devonate McCrea, 20, and Samari Vereen, 23, were each arrested Friday afternoon, charged with first-degree murder and common law robbery in the Sept. 2 death of Albert Phillip Grainger.
    Vereen is from the Tabor City area, McCrea was described by Warner as a “drifter” living between the Tabor City  area and Conway, South Carolina.
    Both were held without bond at the Columbus County Detention Center in Whiteville.
    Investigators were looking for a third suspect in the case Friday night, Warner said. He declined to identify that suspect.
    Grainger, 41, was found beaten to death in the middle of Bell Street, just a few doors down from his home at just before 1:30 that morning.
    Grainger’s wife, Debra Tyndall, told police her husband had gone downtown, to an ATM, to get money for breakfast the following morning, a police report said.
    Grainger was known to get about town on his bicycle. It was found on the street, just feet away from his body, bloodied and with severe trauma to his head, the report said.
    Police Chief Donald Dowless said he asked the SBI to take the lead in the investigation, a usual practice because of the small size and resources of the Tabor City department.
    For more on this story see the next Tabor-Loris Tribune n print and online.