New details emerge in deadly weekend shootings in Hilton Head, Bluffton

Two homicides that occurred in the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton area Saturday evening were not connected, Beaufort County Sheriff P.J. Tanner said Monday.

Rockiem Graham, 29, of Hilton Head Island, and Betty Bradshaw, 54, of Bluffton, both died as the results of gunshot wounds in separate incidents on April 7.

Tanner, speaking at an afternoon press conference, said the Sheriff's Office has "a pretty good idea" of motives in the deaths of Graham and Brayshaw, but did not elaborate.

Although the Sheriff's Office has identified persons of interest in both cases, no charges had been filed as of Monday evening.

When asked if weapons had been recovered from either scene, Tanner declined to comment.

Possible connections made in Hilton Head homicide

Graham was shot between 7:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Blazing Star Lane, located off of Squire Pope Road on Hilton Head— a spot where many people in the area are known to hang out, according to Tanner.

He was found dead of a gunshot wound in the backseat of a vehicle that police pulled over near the intersection of U.S. 278 and Indigo Run Plantation at about 8 p.m. Saturday. Tanner said the driver was attempting to take Graham to a hospital.

Although is not unusual for an individual to drive a victim to the hospital, removing a body from the scene could constitute removal of evidence, Tanner said, so, the incident is under review.

The shooting could be connected to the March 28 shooting at Mickey's Pub and Grill, in which a gunman shot three people when he opened fire on a crowd in the restaurant's parking lot, Tanner said.

"There's still possibly some connectivity in those two cases," Tanner said. "We're not ruling it out, but we can't tell you for an absolute fact that it is connected. But there's some persons of interest in both cases that are similar."

Bluffton homicide not related to Hilton Head

The shooting death of Betty Brayshaw was not connected to either the Blazing Star Lane homicide or to the shooting at Mickey's Pub, according to Tanner.

Brayshaw was shot between 9 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. at her residence on Mammy Grant Road in the Pritchardville area, which she shared with family members. She was not alone in the residence when she was shot, Tanner said.

Sheriff deputies responded to a call Saturday at about 10 p.m. from family members who said Brayshaw had been shot.

When deputies arrived at the scene, they found Brayshaw lying on her back between the coffee table and the television inside her living room, according to a report from the Sheriff's Office.

Emergency Medical Services determined Brayshaw had died of a gunshot wound when they arrived.

Major developments have been made in both cases within the last 16 hours, and the Sheriff's Office continues to identify potential witnesses and persons of interest, according to Tanner.

Autopsies of both Graham and Brayshaw are scheduled for Tuesday.

"Once the autopsies are done there may be additional information," Tanner said.

In the meantime, the public in not in danger and should not fear for their safety, he said.

"We know enough about both cases to know this is an incident that occurred with an intent," Tanner said. "It was not something else that the general public should be worried about."

So far this year, three people have been killed in Beaufort County. In addition to the two shooting deaths that took place last weekend, 38-year-old Karwanna Albany was killed on January 6 in Dale.

This story was originally published April 9, 2018 at 4:45 PM with the headline "New details emerge in deadly weekend shootings in Hilton Head, Bluffton."