No suspects identified yet in fatal shooting of Port Royal man in Bluffton, police say
No suspects have been identified in the shooting death of a 23-year-old Port Royal man outside a business in Bluffton on Friday night, according to the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.
Marlon Lyons Jr. died shortly after being found unresponsive outside a moving and storage business on Bluffton Parkway, a Sheriff’s Office report said.
Former classmates and a teacher remembered Lyons as sweet and funny and “such a nice kid.” His English teacher at Beaufort High School said he is among eight or nine of her former students who have died of gun violence.
After 11 p.m. Friday, a deputy parked at the Bluffton Police Department substation on May River Road said he heard “a large amount” of gunfire, the report said.
The deputy drove on Goethe Road and spoke with a person on a bike who also heard the shots. The bicyclist directed the officer to the area of All My Sons Moving & Storage.
Deputies entered the driveway and found a person lying on the ground, unresponsive, near a Dodge Charger. There was blood nearby, according to the report.
Deputies cordoned off the crime scene and gathered evidence. No other people were at the scene, a news release said.
“EMS personnel handed a large amount of US currency, taken from the victim, to me which we immediately placed in a bag for evidence,” a deputy wrote in his report.
As of Wednesday, no suspects have been identified, according to Sheriff’s Office Maj. Bob Bromage. He stressed that the investigation was in its early stages, and the agency is processing forensic evidence.
‘Such a nice kid’
Susan Mitchell, who taught freshman English at Beaufort High School for nine years, remembers Lyons fondly from 2013 to 2014. She said news of his death upset her.
“It’s just kind of shocking because he was such a nice kid,” Mitchell said Wednesday. “I would have never thought it would be Marlon Lyons.”
Lyons was an average student, she said, but he had a great attitude and was “sweet and kind” with a nice smile.
She said Lyons is the eighth or ninth former Beaufort High student she’s lost to gun violence. A majority of their deaths, she said, went unsolved.
“I don’t understand what is going on with the police and these kids, and why these crimes aren’t solved,” she said.
In Lyons’ online obituary, friends and former classmates of the Port Royal man wrote that he would be missed.
“Marlon you were always so sweet and funny,” one former middle school classmate wrote.
Bromage said anyone with information should contact the investigator of the case at 843-255-3411 or, if they wish to remain anonymous, call 843-554-1111.
This story was originally published October 20, 2021 at 3:56 PM.
