Bluffton father-son duo who hit home with bullets dodge initial attempted murder charges
Prosecutors have dropped a dozen attempted murder charges for a father and son who targeted an occupied home with sprays of gunfire outside Old Town Bluffton in December. Both suspects admitted to lesser charges and will avoid prison time under good behavior.
Bluffton resident Gregory Griffin II, 43, and his 20-year-old son Kimani Griffin both pleaded guilty to two counts of discharging firearms into a dwelling. They each received a two-year probation sentence but could still face two years behind bars if they fail to follow South Carolina’s probation conditions, including a ban on possessing firearms and mandatory random drug tests.
Assistant Solicitor Rachel DeAngelis dropped six counts of attempted murder for each man due to a lack of evidence supporting the charges, according to Erinn McGuire, the community relations liaison for the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office.
Like a murder charge, attempted murder in South Carolina requires proof of the intention to kill, a difficult hurdle to clear in a courtroom. The duo’s 12 attempted murder charges were not indicted due to a lack of admissible evidence that could prove the crime “beyond a reasonable doubt” in front of a grand jury.
At about 10:25 a.m. on Dec. 13, the two men reportedly parked their car near the intersection of Simmonsville Road and Sugaree Drive and opened fire on a nearby home with long guns. About 17 rounds were fired in total but none of the six occupants of the residence were struck, according to Sgt. Bonifacio Perez of the Bluffton Police Department.
Both men then fled to their family’s home on Haigler Blvd. — located near Cahill’s Market and Chicken Kitchen — where police later detained several people, including the two shooters. Officers seized 14 weapons at the home, as well as two firearms believed to have been used in the shooting.
Bluffton police charged Kimani Griffin shortly after the shooting but did not have enough evidence to arrest his father until early January. Under the Youthful Offender Act, the younger half of the duo can apply to have his criminal record cleared if he has no other convictions five years after the end of his probation.
The father and son likely knew the home’s occupants, police previously told The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette. December’s non-fatal gunfire was likely a flashpoint in a feud between families.
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