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Second suspect in Food Lion parking lot murder in custody

Stephon Miller

By DEUCE NIVEN

tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com

     A second Tabor City man is in custody accused of murder in a parking lot slaying at a Food Lion in Longs last August.

     Stephon Miller was arrested by members of the U.S. Marshals Task Force on Lewis Street in Tabor City Monday afternoon, an Horry County Police Department news release said.

     Held on a fugitive warrant at the Columbus County Detention Center in Whiteville, Miller is awaiting extradition to face the South Carolina murder charge.

     Miller will be charged in the Aug. 15, 2018 shooting death of Gerard Celentano, 57, in the Food Lion parking lot on SC 9.

     James Laverne Bellamy, 47, also of Tabor City, was arrested by U.S. Marshals near Fair Bluff on Aug. 29, 2018, and has been charged with murder, the news release said.

     Detectives continue to work the case, and have obtained information linking Miller to the murder, the news release said.

     “HCPD would like to thank the U.S. Marshals Task Force for their efforts,” the news release said. “Without teamwork and coordination, this arrest would not have been possible.”

     Anyone with additional information in this case is asked to contact the HCPD at 843-915-TIPS (8477).

     For more on this story see this week’s Tabor-Loris Tribune in print and online.