‘This is just the first battle’: Judge OKs temporary injunction to shutter property where cross-burning suspects lived

HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) — An Horry County judge has granted a temporary injunction to shutter the property where a couple allegedly set a cross on fire in their yard last Thanksgiving to intimate their Black neighbors.

The ruling follows a hearing on Wednesday on the 15th Circuit Solicitor’s Office’s efforts to have the Corbett Drive property where Alexis Hartnett lived declared a public nuisance. The solicitor’s office filed the request in January, asking for a temporary injunction or restraining order that could remove Butler and Hartnett from the property.

Monica Williams, one of the victims in the cross-burning, was excited to hear the judge’s ruling.

“We’re just elated, like, we were just excited,” she said. “We really want the whole state of South Carolina to learn from the situation that you cannot terrorize and harm people and terrorize the neighborhood. So, we are very, very excited. We are happy that the judge ruled the way he did and we are grateful.”

A spokesman for the solicitor’s office said Thursday afternoon that the judge will file a formal order in the case at a later date.

Williams once again expressed the need for South Carolina to pass a hate crimes law.

“This culture of racism is real, and it needs to be discussed. We hope to keep up the momentum,” she said. “We hope to educate the children and educate everyone as to the importance of inclusion and the importance of knowing history. You don’t know where you’re going, if you don’t know where you’ve been, and that is just very, very important.”

Butler and Hartnett, who are facing harassment charges in connection with the cross-burning, are not currently living in the home. Hartnett is also facing an unrelated assault charge in Conway Municipal Court, where her attorney on Thursday requested a jury trial, and a more-recent more-recent obscenity charge that followed an arrest earlier this month that led to her being placed on home detention.

The injunction means that Horry County police would take possession of all the furniture, equipment, fixtures and other property used on the premises, documents show.

Despite the ruling, Williams said her and her husband still aren’t ready to go back to the home.

“We still are not mentally, you know, feeling going back to the house after everything that has happened,” she said. “We will definitely be back and forth for maintenance and, you know, checking utilities and things of that nature, but actually, you know, living and vacationing there — mentally, we’re just not there yet.”

Christopher Helms, a Murrells Inlet-based lawyer, filed a motion on Feb. 21 in Horry County Common Pleas Court asking a judge to toss Richardson’s order, calling it a “government overreach.”

The case has spurred calls for South Carolina lawmakers to adopt a hate crimes bill. Wyoming is the only other state without such a law.

News13 reached out to the attorney for Janet Butler, the property owner, but have not heard back as of this writing.

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Savannah Denton joined News 13 in July 2023 as a reporter and producer. Savannah is from Atlanta, Georgia, and is a graduate of the University of Alabama. Follow Savannah on X, formerly Twitter, and read more of her work here. 

Dennis Bright is a Digital Producer at News13. He joined the team in May 2021. Dennis is a West Virginia native and a graduate of Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. Follow Dennis on, Facebook, X, formerly Twitter, and read more of his work here.

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