Myrtle Beach Police Dept., community remembers Officer Joe McGarry

MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WMBF) - Ten years have passed since Myrtle Beach Police Officer Joe McGarry, 28, was shot and killed in a parking lot along Kings Highway. A decade may have gone by since McGarry's death but his memory continues to be remembered year after year.

The Myrtle Beach Police Department is holding their annual McGarry Memorial Service on Friday at 5 p.m. The memorial will begin at McGarry's memorial stone outside the north door at the Ted C. Collins Law Enforcement Center. All of the public is invited to attend.

McGarry was with the police department for four years when he was killed on Dec. 29, 2002 while confronting a possible suspect outside a Myrtle Beach doughnut shop, according to police.

The suspect in McGarry's murder, Luzenski Allen Cottrell, was taken into custody the night of the crime. On April 6, 2005, Cottrell was found guilty for killing McGarry and faced the death penalty with charges of murder, assault with intent to kill, grand larceny and resisting arrest.

Following his conviction, the South Carolina Supreme Court overturned the ruling in 2008, saying the jury did not consider a possible verdict of voluntary manslaughter.

Cottrell was due back in court in 2012, but according to Horry County Public Records his case is pending.

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