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 love triangle erupted into violence, culminating in a baseball bat attack in a supermarket parking lot straddling the Carolinas, as reported by authorities.
Raymond Jett, aged 60, faces charges of third-degree assault and battery along with three counts of child neglect.
Meanwhile, Edward McGill, 59, is charged with attempted murder.
The tumultuous incident kicked off in North Carolina on a Sunday afternoon when Jett, accompanied by his three children, traveled to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, with the intention of confronting his wife’s boyfriend, McGill.
At approximately 5:45 p.m., Jett located the couple at a Food Lion store on 38th Avenue North, where he initially opted to leave a note on McGill’s car windshield, as detailed in a police report acquired by Myrtle Beach’s NBC affiliate WMBF and Florence’s CBS affiliate WBTW.
Still, Jett then allegedly waited for McGill to leave the store. When McGill started loading groceries into his car, witnesses described seeing Jett “run at” McGill — prompting a quick argument before Jett punched McGill in the head, according to law enforcement.
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.