Ellie Becoat III was a 23-year-old Black man from Pamplico, South Carolina, remembered by family and friends as Little E — soft-spoken, steady in his church and Navy Reserve service, and passionate about DJ-ing. On Sunday afternoon, October 1, 2017, gunfire shattered the quiet of Pamplico. Deputies responded to a shooting on East Main Street; the victim was gravely wounded and later died from his injuries. Authorities identified the victim the next day as Ellie Becoat III and investigated the death as a homicide.

The Florence County Sheriff’s Office named 22-year-old Zafir Abdul Bethea of Pamplico as a suspect and said he was wanted for murder and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime. Investigators later located and arrested Bethea in Philadelphia, and two Philadelphia men, 18-year-old Rymir Jamal Steven and 33-year-old Ricky Hyseem Smith, were arrested on accessory-after-the-fact charges for allegedly helping Bethea leave South Carolina. Bethea was extradited back to Florence County and later entered guilty pleas to voluntary manslaughter in Ellie’s killing and in an earlier 2015 death, receiving a total 30-year sentence.

If anyone knew Ellie, where he spent his time in Pamplico, or has information about that afternoon on East Main Street, please share what you know.