On March 25, 2021, 43-year-old Jermaine Stewart of Conway was found unresponsive from a fatal gunshot wound on the second floor of the Waterpark Hotel on South Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach. Police responded to a reported shooting at about 1:20 a.m. and pronounced Stewart dead at the scene. Investigators described the killing as the violent end to what they believe was a drug-related robbery.

Officers found a substantial quantity of narcotics in the hotel room where Stewart’s body was discovered, and the inquiry expanded to two other locations — the Motel 6 on Frontage Road East and the Bermuda Sands Motel on North Ocean Boulevard — where additional drugs and evidence were seized. A man at the Bermuda Sands Motel suffered a non-life-threatening gunshot wound that night.

Eight people were arrested in connection with the murder and the broader drug operation, including one juvenile. Police identified 33-year-old Jeffrey Seth Eckard of Greenville as the primary suspect, charging him with murder, armed robbery and multiple drug offenses, and alleged he planned to rob Stewart and shot him during the crime. Michael Ray Phillips, 30, of Myrtle Beach, and 28-year-old Melissa Hudson were among others charged on related offenses.

Does anyone have information about Stewart’s movements in Myrtle Beach that night or saw unfamiliar people at the Waterpark Hotel?