Families of two women shot at Beaufort party remember a loving mother, a loyal friend
No arrests have been made yet in the shooting deaths of two women this month in the Seabrook community in northern Beaufort County, according to Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Maj. Bob Bromage.
Flora Mae Gantt, 74, of Walterboro, South Carolina, and Shaina Mulligan, 30, of Beaufort were killed on Dec. 4 after a “dispute” during a party, according to an alert from the Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies responding around 11 p.m. to calls about shots fired and found two women who had been shot, the alert stated. Gantt was pronounced dead at the scene, it stated, and Mulligan died on the way to a local hospital.
The investigation is ongoing, Bromage said Friday.
‘Her loyalty ran deep’
Mulligan, a mother of two, was born and raised in Beaufort and graduated from Battery Creek High School in 2010, according to her online obituary. She was “one of a kind” who will be missed, her mother wrote in a Dec. 12 Facebook memorial post.
On Dec. 19, her sister made another memorial post, writing that she thinks about Mulligan every day and that she was “supposed to be here.”
“I can hear you talk I can see your face ... I miss you so much Shaina,” Mulligan’s sister wrote.
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A graveside celebration of life ceremony was held Dec. 11 and live-streamed on the funeral home’s Facebook page. Mulligan’s loved ones wore white T-shirts with her name and photo printed on them.
“If she loved you, she had your back,” speaker Eugene Tolbert said at the ceremony. “That girl was there for anybody, her loyalty ran deep. ... I miss you, Shaina, I miss you so much.”
Mulligan’s family and friends did not respond to requests for comment from the Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette.
Lover, not a fighter
Gantt, also a mother of two, was a loving and gentle woman, said Regina Gantt, her youngest daughter.
“My mom was a sweet lady, always helping others and the community,” Gantt said. “She was into the church. She made it her best to be there for others.”
Gantt was a “lover, not a fighter,” who always encouraged her children to have faith and believe in their own strength, her daughter said.
She grew up in Walterboro, one of at least eight siblings, according to Gantt and her mother’s online obituary. She worked at Dayco Products in Walterboro for 15 years before suffering an injury. The pain didn’t stop her, and she became a staff member at the Colleton County Board of Disabilities and Special Needs doing what she loved: helping people, her daughter said.
“This is the most difficult thing I’ve ever had to deal with, but I know my moms will be happy knowing that I’m living on her legacy,” Gantt said.
Anyone with information regarding the shooting may call Sgt. Todd Duncan at the Sheriff’s Office at (843) 255-3418, or Crime Stoppers of the Lowcountry at (843) 554-1111.
This story was originally published December 24, 2021 at 3:09 PM.
