HAMPTON, SC (Nov. 13, 2023) – Two men connected to a grisly triple murder in the Hampton County town of Varnville have been sent to prison.
Tyrase Akil Collins, 23, of Crews Street, was convicted Friday of three counts of murder in the March 25, 2018, deaths of 19-year-old Lamekia Mo’Asia Warren; 24-year-old Ghazi Abdul Duckett; and 32-year-old Frankie Lee Johnson, Jr. He was also found guilty of armed robbery and possessing a weapon during the commission of a violent crime.
A Hampton County General Sessions jury also returned a guilty verdict against Collins’ co-defendant, 39-year-old Lorenzo Boles of Brooks Boulevard. Boles was found guilty of one charge of accessory before the fact to each of the three murders and armed robbery.
Boles was sentenced to 45 years in prison. Collins’ sentencing has been deferred.
“Tyrase Collins, with the assistance of Lorenzo Boles, executed two young men and slaughtered a young woman with extreme brutality,” said Reed Evans of the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office, who prosecuted the case. “Hampton County will be safer with them in prison.”
Warren, Duckett and Johnson were each found dead inside a home on Priscilla Lane in the Hampton County community of Varnville. Duckett and Johnson had each been shot in the head, and Warren sustained more than 30 gunshot wounds to her neck, chest, legs and arms.
At least three guns connected to the murders were seized by law enforcement during subsequent searches of Collins’ Crews Street home. They included a Draco-style semi-automatic pistol belonging to Johnson, which was found in Collins’ bedroom; a second gun ballistically linked to shell casings found at the murder site; and a third firearm associated with Duckett found inside a bag.
The jury also learned Johnson’s blood was found inside a red Dodge Charger regularly driven by Boles.
Evans called 18 witnesses, including DNA experts, during the two days of testimony at the Hampton County Courthouse, including a DNA expert.
Circuit Court Judge Robert Bonds handed down Boles’ sentence Friday.
Collins and Boles are considered career criminals due to the severity of this case and Boles’ prior criminal record, which dates to 2001. Boles’ convictions includes possession of a weapon (2001); assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature (2005); possession of cocaine (2006); and possession of cocaine (2015).
Evans is a member of the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office Career Criminal Unit, which has secured convictions against 472 of the 516 defendants it has prosecuted since the team’s formation in late 2009. He has been with the prosecutor’s office since 2011.
The Hampton County Sheriff’s Office, the Varnville Police Department, and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division assisted in the investigation of this case.
