Georgetown County man charged with double murder. Bodies found in shallow grave, police say

The Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office took a suspect into custody Tuesday and charged the man with murder of two people whose bodies were found in a shallow grave on Feb. 18, the sheriff’s office said in a release.

Lavorn Hakeem Johnson was booked at Georgetown County Detention Center on Nov. 7. The 32-year-old Georgetown County man faces two counts each of murder, desecration of a corpse and possession of a weapon during a violent crime.

The arrest occurs nearly nine months after animals unearthed the bodies of Melvin Wise, 57, and Andrene Stewart, 41, in a wooded area off of Whitmire Road in the Choppee community. Wise was a former resident of Georgetown County, according to a February Facebook post by the Coroner’s Office.

The two New York residents visited relatives in Dunbar in late 2022, according to the release. Wise and Stewart died of gunshot wounds, according to the Coroner’s Office.