Inset left: Edward McGill (J. Reuben Long Detention Center). Inset right: Raymond Jett (Myrtle Beach Jail). Background: A Food Lion where a fight broke out in Myrtle Beach, S.C. (Google Maps).
A heated love triangle spiraled into a violent incident involving a baseball bat in a supermarket parking lot, crossing state borders in the Carolinas, as reported by authorities.
Raymond Jett, aged 60, faces charges including one count of third-degree assault and battery along with three counts of unlawful child neglect.
Meanwhile, Edward McGill, 59, has been charged with attempted murder.
The tumultuous series of events unfolded on a Sunday afternoon in North Carolina, when Jett, accompanied by his three children, decided to confront his wife’s boyfriend, McGill, in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
At approximately 5:45 p.m., Jett tracked down the couple at a Food Lion located on 38th Avenue North. Before approaching them, he reportedly left a note on McGill’s car windshield, as detailed in a police report provided by Myrtle Beach’s NBC affiliate WMBF and Florence’s CBS affiliate WBTW.
Subsequently, Jett allegedly waited for McGill to exit the store. As McGill started to place groceries into his vehicle, witnesses reported seeing Jett charging towards McGill, leading to a brief altercation where Jett punched McGill in the head, according to law enforcement accounts.
The two scrapped for a bit before briefly separating. McGill apparently took the opportunity to retrieve a metal baseball bat from his car.
Multiple videos were recorded that showed McGill chasing and hitting Jett in the head and upper body, including the shoulders and neck, with the bat until Jett fell to the ground, police said.
One witness told police they could hear the bat making a sound like “ping, ping, ping” as the attack continued.
McGill repeatedly struck Jett in or around his head until a bystander intervened and took the bat from McGill, according to an affidavit.
Then, after losing the bat, McGill “re-engaged” with Jett and continued the attack until police arrived, authorities allege.
McGill was arrested at the scene, police said.
Jett was arrested the next day.
McGill is detained in the J. Reuben Long Detention Center on $300,000 bond. Jett, who appears in a booking photo wearing a neck brace, was booked in the Myrtle Beach Jail and subsequently released.
