‘The plot, the plan, the prostitution’: Westbury Park murder trial begins

A Beaufort County courtroom began proceedings Tuesday to unravel a murder case involving prostitution, an armed robbery attempt in a gated community and a 17-year-old girl used as bait to entrap and attack a Bluffton man.

Devante White, 24, of Beaufort was charged in November 2020 with kidnapping and the murder of Timothy Milliken, a 45-year-old Bluffton resident found shot to death in his Westbury Park home that same month.

He is the first of four suspects — including Malik White, 24, of Beaufort, Jamal Coakley, 24, of Dale, and Sarah Barr, 19, of Summerville — to be tried before a jury.

Judge Brooks P. Goldsmith will hand down the sentence at the end of the trial.

On Tuesday, Ashley B. Cornwell, Devante White’s defense attorney, acknowleged her client was involved in the case, but she disagreed with how he was charged.

“While Tim Milliken’s death was tragic, it was not murder,” Cornwell argued in her opening remarks. “As a result, the charges that the state has brought against my client ... just don’t add up to the definition of the laws that the judge is going to give you.”

But Assistant Solicitor Trasi Campbell, who is prosecuting the case, emphasized the collective premeditation behind the attack and called for the punishment of all parties involved — including Barr, who was used to help the men gain access into Milliken’s neighborhood. Barr was 17 at the time of the incident.

“This trial is about ... bringing justice to Tim’s murderers, who planned and plotted, who held a gun on Tim, attacked him, tried to zip-tie his hands together,” she said Tuesday at the Beaufort County courthouse.

All four suspects took part in preliminary hearings in early 2021, in which a Beaufort County judge dismissed armed robbery charges for the men but upheld charges of kidnapping and murder for the group. Devante White and Coakley are also charged with the possession of a weapon during a violent crime.

Even though Devante White is accused of pulling the trigger, the other three suspects also face murder charges under South Carolina’s “hand of one, hand of all” law.

What happened on Nov. 16, 2020?

The events of Nov. 16, 2020, began with an ad for prostitution, which was presented as evidence Tuesday. Prior to the shooting, Milliken made online arrangements with Barr to “exchange sex for money,” according to Cpl. William Weich of the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office, the case’s lead investigator.

This allowed Barr to enter the gated community the night of Nov. 16. Milliken went outside the gates of the Westbury Park neighborhood and got in a car with Barr and Devante White. The three drove into the community and parked in Milliken’s driveway.

Milliken was unaware that Malik White and Coakley, who was holding a revolver, were hiding in the trunk of the car, Weich testified Tuesday.

Surveillance camera footage, presented as evidence during the trial, shows Devante White grabbing Milliken from behind, telling Milliken he was a police officer and that he was arresting him for soliciting a prostitute.

The group brought Milliken to the back door of the home, forcing him into the mudroom. Indoor surveillance footage shows Milliken trying to push Devante White out of the house.

After a brief struggle in the doorway, Milliken is shot and can be seen falling to the floor — next to his family’s dog. A witness from Beaufort County EMS testified that the dog later became “aggressive” and prevented first responders from accessing Milliken’s body for nearly an hour.

Immediately after shots were fired, the White brothers, Coakley and Barr fled the neighborhood.

Both Coakley and Barr are scheduled to take the stand as witnesses Wednesday.

A verdict is expected on Thursday.