Horry Co. solicitor offers dramatic details of drug robbery gone bad in aftermath of double manslaughter convictions

HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) — A midday shootout over Memorial Day weekend in 2022 that ended the lives of two people was the result of a failed armed robbery attempt over drugs, 15th Circuit Court Solicitor Jimmy Richardson said Tuesday.

The region’s top prosecutor offered dramatic details about exactly what happened on May 31, when 19-year-old Kalik Conn of Longs and Jeremiah Dicker, 20, of Columbia, died in a remote area off Highway 554.

A jury last week convicted Naseria Grate, 22, and his brother Dajon, 20, of voluntary manslaughter stemming from the incident. Both will have to serve at least 85% of their 30-year sentences before being eligible for supervised release.

A third person, 19-year-old Todd Allen Fry, was also charged in the shooting, according to the solicitor’s office. He pleaded guilty on Aug. 12 to accessory before the fact of armed robbery and was given 10 years in prison.

“Ultimately, I believe it should have been murder but I respect the jury and really, really understand where they’re coming from,” Richardson said in his weekly update. “If you put yourself in a bad spot by buying dope or selling dope, the juries have a way of discounting the aftermath.”

Richardson said the Grate brothers drove to an area gas station on May 31, 2022 where Conn was known to have been selling drugs. Surveillance footage showed the four men together, Richardson said.

The Grates then identified a remote area off Highway 554 and sent Conn the geolocation for a meeting.

Richardson said when Conn arrived, Dicker was in the passenger seat. Dajon got into the vehicle behind Conn while Naseria stood at the back of the car.

“Obviously, it’s a robbery. They all pull guns. The dope is removed from the front seat to the back seat, but they never got away,” Richardson said.

Nearly 20 shots were fired. Dicker behind a nearby house where he died from his injuries while Conn never made it out of the car, Richardson said.

Naseria Grate sustained a gunshot wound and ran to a local fire station for treatment.

“When all of the cellular data and the video came in, it made a fairly decent case as to what had happened,” Richardson said. “It was an armed robbery that turned into a murder.”

Richardson said the case illustrated the dangers of being involved in the sale or purchase of drugs.

“If you are in Myrtle Beach, or you’re in Longs or you’re in Conway and you are going to the movie theater, pushing a baby stroller and eating popcorn, nobody’s going to mess with you,” Richardson said. “If you are selling or buying dope at your house, your life expectancy is going to go down because it means you are dealing with unscrupulous people.”

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