Arrest warrants, charter school offer new details into deadly shooting of Virginia teen in Myrtle Beach

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW) — Newly obtained arrest warrants and a statement from an Aiken charter school are offering more details into the deadly shooting of a Virginia teenager in Myrtle Beach more than a week ago.

Jakolbi Taylor, 16, of Roanoke, was shot and killed near the 16th Avenue N. beach access on July 20. Gary Abraham, 18, was charged with murder, three counts of attempted murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime in Taylor’s death.

Abraham was wearing a backpack and encountered Taylor’s group before motioning them to follow him down to the beach, an arrest warrant shows. Abraham is seen on camera taking his backpack off. Shortly after, he allegedly fired multiple shots at Taylor, killing him.

Abraham was identified “by witnesses and known associates who were present at the time of the incident as being in possession of a firearm before, during, and after the shooting occurred. He was known to carry a firearm inside of his backpack,” the warrant reads.

Abraham was a student at Horse Creek Academy, a charter school in Aiken unaffiliated with the county’s school district. Horse Creek released a statement on Monday, saying Abraham was no longer a student at the school.

“It it with a heavy heart that we address the recent tragic incident involving one of our former students, Gary Abraham. We were recently made aware that Mr. Abraham, who is no longer a student at Horse Creek Academy due to his current incarceration, has been charged in connection with the death of 16-year-old Jakolbi Taylor from Virginia.”

“This heartbreaking event has profoundly affected all those involved, and our deepest sympathies and thoughts are with the Taylor family during this incredibly difficult time. HCA is not aware of why Mr. Abraham was in the Myrtle Beach area, but we do know that it was not due to any HCA-related activities or athletics.”

Jakolbi’s aunt Briana Taylor said Myrtle Beach police told the family that a suspect was taken into custody during Jakolbi’s funeral on Sunday, but said she didn’t learn Abraham’s name until hours later.

“It all came, it came so fast,” she said. “The media called us as well as the police department. For my mom, I’m not sure what call came in first, because they came in simultaneously.”

Jakolbi was in Myrtle Beach for an AAU basketball tournament. He scored 43 points just hours before his death.

“The funeral was beautiful,” Briana said. “We put him to rest where he would have wanted, on his high school, in his high school basketball gymnasium. There were over a thousand people there to show love and support to the family.”

Briana said they’re happy Abraham is in custody, but said there are still more people who need to be arrested. A police report obtained by News13 last week showed that multiple suspects were seen running away from the scene.

“We’ve seen some research being done, we’ve seen his [Abraham’s] high school team, we see that he also played AAU ball,” Briana said. “We’ve gone through all of the brackets for that particular tournament and are sure Jakolbi’s team did not play his team.”

Briana said she’s not sure if Abraham was in Myrtle Beach that weekend specifically for basketball or not. News13 has reached out to the National Travel Basketball Association, who hosted the tournament, but we haven’t heard back as of this writing.

“The team has like, locked their Instagram, so I don’t have much information on that team,” Briana said.

News13 reached out to Myrtle Beach Mayor Brenda Bethune to ask if the incident will affect sports tourism in the city.

“Sports tourism is a large part of our economy,” Bethune said. “The city prides itself on hosting quality events that are safe for all. We cannot control the behavior of a few teens who chose to take their dispute out in public.”

News13 also asked Myrtle Beach police for a comment, but they said “no” because the investigation is ongoing.

Abraham is set to have an initial court appearance at the end of September in Conway. Briana said her and her family plan on attending.

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