New details made public in fatal robbery in Bluffton’s Westbury Park last year
The killing of a Bluffton man in a gated community in November involved an armed robbery that turned deadly, and a 17-year-old girl who was used as bait to entrap the man, according to new court testimony.
The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office arrested four people on murder charges in the death of Timothy Milliken, 45, who was found dead in his Westbury Park home on Nov. 16, 2020.
“Milliken was held at gunpoint in his driveway, bear-hugged, and forced to the backdoor area of his residence,” Sheriff’s Investigator William Weich said in a preliminary court hearing, “A struggle ensued before he was ultimately shot in the laundry room of his residence, where he succumbed to his wounds.”
Several cameras stationed in and around Milliken’s home revealed the sequence of events, Weich said.
Weich’s testimony was part of a preliminary hearing Friday for Sarah Barr, 17, of Summerville, S.C., one of four charged.
The hearing in Beaufort County Magistrate Court was to determine whether police had probable cause for charges.
The Sheriff’s Office laid out some of the evidence, but a trial will determine guilt.
What happened?
Milliken knew Barr, and the two were texting each other until they met that night.
They were “meeting for sexual relations,” Weich said. Milliken thought he was seeing a prostitute.
Close to 11 p.m., Milliken went outside the gates of his Westbury Park neighborhood and got into a car with Barr and Devante White, 26, of Green Pond, S.C. All three drove back into Milliken’s neighborhood and parked in the driveway of his house.
Once outside the car, White grabbed Milliken from behind, said he was the police and that Milliken was under arrest for prostitution, according to Weich’s testimony.
The trunk of the vehicle opened, and two individuals came out — Jamal Coakley Jr., 22, of Dale, S.C., and Malik White, 22, of Beaufort.
Coakley told police he was in the trunk. He believed they were going to rob Milliken.
One of the men from the trunk had a revolver; Weich did not say who.
He said they brought Milliken to his back porch. The backdoor leads to his laundry room.
Held at gunpoint, Milliken tried to escape.
“He was able to gain entry into his laundry room, but one of the co-defendants was holding him by his jacket before he was ultimately shot,” Weich said.
He did not say which man pulled the trigger.
Aftermath
Following the shooting, all four individuals left in the car they arrived in.
The Sheriff’s Office tracked the car to an area outside of Atlanta.
The agency asked Gwinnett County, Ga., police to detain Coakley, White and White.
Sheriff’s Office investigators interviewed them at the Gwinnett County Jail, an earlier news release said.
Barr was arrested a day later, after officers traveled to the Dorchester County Sheriff’s Office in Summerville to interview her.
All four involved were charged with one count of murder, one count of armed robbery, and one count of kidnapping. Devante White and Coakley were also charged with possession of a weapon in commission of a violent crime.
In Barr’s preliminary hearing Friday, her public defender emphasized, through questions to Weich, that there is no evidence Barr was aware of a plan that involved “guns being pulled or shot.”
Weich said she voluntarily interviewed with law enforcement officers.
Court records show she was released on a $50,000 surety bond and under house arrest on Dec. 28, 2020. Surety bonds allow people to get out of jail by paying a portion of their bond, on the condition that they will return to court.
Coakley, White, and White are detained at the Beaufort County Detention Center, jail records show. No bond has been set for the three men.
