Woman mouths ‘Help me’ during traffic stop, leads to arrest in deadly shooting
By Graham Cawthon
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CONWAY, South Carolina (WJCL) — A South Carolina man has been sentenced to prison for a deadly shooting outside a bar.
Collins Xavier Manning Bates, 32, of Columbia, pleaded guilty Monday to assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature and possession of a firearm by a convicted violent felon. Bates was scheduled to go to trial in April.
Bates was sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to charges stemming from a May 2023 shooting in Myrtle Beach, Fifteenth Circuit Solicitor Jimmy Richardson announced.
Authorities said Bates and a group of friends drove from Columbia to Myrtle Beach on May 28, 2023. About 5 a.m., an argument inside the vehicle led to the victim and his girlfriend being forced out of the car in the parking lot of The Waterway House Sports & Spirits.
As the victim got out, Bates opened his door and fired one shot, striking the victim in the abdomen, prosecutors said. Bates then told the driver to leave the scene.
About eight minutes later, North Myrtle Beach police stopped the vehicle for a traffic violation. While officers spoke with Bates at the passenger-side window, the female driver mouthed, “Help me,” prosecutors said.
Police removed Bates from the vehicle and detained him. Investigators later found a firearm under Bates’ seat, and testing by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division matched Bates’ DNA and a shell casing recovered at the shooting scene to the gun, prosecutors said.
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