Locked out: Former Willie’s Bar and Grill owner sues St. Helena landlords
The operator of the St. Helena Island bar where an October mass shooting killed four eventually chose to shut down the restaurant amid mounting pressure from local officials.
Now, he says he’s been wrongfully locked out of the building.
A lawsuit filed Monday by Willie Turral alleges his landlords, James and Bernice Wright, changed the locks to the building on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in early January. In the lawsuit, Turral alleges his landlords denied him access to his possessions inside, despite Turral paying rent in advance and the lack of an official eviction order.
The complaint in Beaufort County civil court asks for monetary damages and an injunction restoring his access to the property.
Turral claims the Wrights justified the lockout through “post-hoc justifications” based on breach of contract, according to the suit. It was unclear if the fallout from the Oct. 12 mass shooting had contributed to the legal dispute; Turral would not comment on the matter and the Wrights did not respond to requests for comment.
In the days after the shooting, Beaufort County Sheriff P.J. Tanner lobbied local and state officials to terminate Turral’s liquor and business licenses, arguing the bar in St. Helena’s Frogmore community was a hub for violence that generated hundreds of calls to police over a decade-long period.
Turral initially said he would contest the sheriff’s effort but announced his intentions to permanently close Willie’s Bar and Grill in November, with plans to transform the space into an economic development center.
“You took the liquor license, great. I’m moving on. I’m working on SHEDWorks. Somebody has to do some work in this community,” he said at the time, referencing the name of his new business that starts with an acronym for “St. Helena Economic Development Center.”
Property records show the property was sold Nov. 21 to Areatha Hamilton, the daughter of Bernice Wright. Hamilton is an employee of Beaufort County government’s Nexus Care department, which offers drug and alcohol abuse recovery services.
Turral said he was not aware of the property sale when it occurred in November. The Wrights “continued to present themselves” as responsible for managing the property and handling his lease until he was denied access to the building in January, he added.
Police have charged one man with four counts of murder in connection with the mass shooting, which arose from an altercation in the parking lot of Willie’s Bar and Grill around 1 a.m. during a high school reunion after party.
Three gunmen were involved, according to police, and witnesses reported hearing machine gun fire. One of the suspected shooters was reportedly killed, leaving one final suspect that police have yet to identify.
In the lawsuit
Turral, who is representing himself pro se, claims in the suit he gave James Wright a key to the building in late 2025 “for limited access purposes” as they discussed a “potential mutual termination of the lease.” This was because Turral was considering a relocation of his business.
But on Jan. 7, according to the complaint, the Wrights changed the locks to the building and “denied (Turral) access to the premises.”
The lawsuit alleges the Wrights have “unequivocally refused” to return Turral’s prepaid rent and that since the lockout, they have used the building’s water and electrical services that are billed to Turral.
Turral claims the Wrights’ actions violate South Carolina tenant law and have caused him financial loss.
This story was originally published January 16, 2026 at 4:23 PM.
