Hunter

• Marquell Quintay Hunter is second young Whiteville resident charged in death of Chadbourn man and wounding of two others outside a Lake Waccamaw convenience store on Sept. 21.

By BOB HIGH
Staff Writer

Marquell Quintay Hunter, 16, a Whiteville High School student, was arrested Tuesday by a sheriff’s detective and an SBI agent on charges of murder in the gang-related drive-by shooting at Lake Waccamaw on Sept. 21 that killed an innocent bystander and wounded two others.

Lake Waccamaw Police Chief Scott Hyatt said Hunter is the second Whiteville teenager charged in the death of Darnell Antonio Frink, 22, of Chadbourn, outside the Sam’s Pit Stop convenience store at the lake. Connail Reaves, 18, of Stanley Circle, Whiteville, was arrested on Nov. 7.

Frink died at the scene, and two other males were wounded in the hail of bullets fired from a stolen 2001 Ford Taurus.

“I anticipate another arrest in these cases, and we’re working to get it done as soon as possible,” Hyatt stated.

Hunter is being held without bond in the county jail. He is charged with Frink’s murder, and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, inflicting serious injuries.

William Jermaine Inman, 24, of Chadbourn, and Antwan Tramaine Waddell, 14, of Riegelwood, were wounded in the shooting.

“I drew the warrants this week and let the sheriff’s detectives know about them. They made the arrest Tuesday afternoon,” Hyatt said.

Sheriff’s Detective Sgt. Jeff Nealey and SBI Agent Josh Hickman found Hunter at his mother’s home in the 200 block of West Lewis Street in Whiteville. “We had no trouble with Hunter,” Nealey stated.

Hunter made his first appearance Wednesday morning in District Court, and his “no bond” status remained in place.

Hunter celebrated his 16th birthday on Aug. 3, 48 days before the shooting at the lake that took place after a Whiteville-East Columbus football game. There were an estimated 100 people outside the convenience store at the time of the shooting.

Hyatt noted that Frink and the two wounded victims were not targets of the shooters. One of the victims was standing within three feet of a male who was an intended target, the chief pointed out.

Reaves was charged in the shootings while being held in jail after he was arrested on the night of Sept. 22.

Local police charged him with possession of a stolen pistol, cocaine and drugs. Two other pistols were found in the car in which Reaves was riding.

Santonio Thurman Jenrette, 20, also of Stanley Circle, Whiteville, was the driver of the car stopped on Sept. 22 by police here. He ran while handcuffed and disappeared.

Jenrette was finally arrested in Gary, Ind., last Thursday, and is being returned to Columbus County.

Reaves is also charged with the theft of the Ford Taurus used in the lake shooting. The car was burned within 30 minutes of the shooting. Another local resident, Justin Wright, 18, is charged as a co-defendant of Reaves in the auto theft.