Brooke Lynn Akins was 19 and a first-semester student at Horry-Georgetown Technical College when she was shot and killed near North Highway 701 in the Loris area on November 5, 2023. She was found around 1:15 a.m. with a gunshot wound to the head and was pronounced dead shortly after arrival at McLeod Health Loris.

Authorities arrested 21-year-old William Cody Perritt of Chadbourn, North Carolina, at the scene; he and Brooke had been in a relationship. Perritt was charged with murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime and was booked into the J. Reuben Long Detention Center after evaluation at a local hospital. A graveside service for Brooke was held November 11, 2023, at Happy Home Baptist Church Cemetery in Galivants Ferry.

Brooke is remembered by family as generous, caring, and committed to becoming a school teacher. Does anyone who knew Brooke or who was in the Loris area that night have information to share?