A violent encounter at the Lazy G Motel in Myrtle Beach on January 12, 2017, left 33-year-old Rashad Lamar Atkins dead. The shooting occurred shortly after midnight in a room at 408 27th Ave. N.; Atkins was taken to a local hospital where he died. Officials described the incident as a drug-related robbery.

Atkins, originally from High Point, North Carolina, was known to friends as RJ. He lived in Myrtle Beach with his wife and children and had attended T. Wingate Andrews High School and Guilford Technical Community College.

Myrtle Beach police identified two suspects from Loris, South Carolina: Larry Tranell Carter, then 22, and Malik Crawford, then 19. Both were arrested and charged with murder, kidnapping, armed robbery, and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime; witnesses in the motel room identified Carter as the shooter.

If anyone was in or near the Lazy G Motel that night or has information about what happened in the room, please share what you know.