RIDGELAND, S.C. (Aug. 20, 2026) – The first Beaufort man to be tried for gunning down identical twins and wounding a third person outside a Jasper County nightclub has been sent to prison.
Trajaan and Tranquan Fripp, 24, were killed in the December 2023 fusillade, in which at least 25 shots were fired at the unarmed victims.
A Jasper County jury on Wednesday found Tayquan Gimel Lampkin, 31, guilty of two charges of murder, one charge of assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, and two charges of possession of a weapon during commission of a violent crime. Lampkin was sentenced to life in prison.
Tayquan Gimel Lampkin
Co-defendants Jamar Nazir Smith-Hagood, 26, and Andrew Lee Grober II, 29 – also of Beaufort – face identical charges and await trial. They are innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.
Trasi Campbell of the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office is prosecuting the defendants.
With assistance from Assistant Solicitor Logan Mallett, Campbell presented evidence in Lampkin’s trial at the Jasper County Courthouse that shortly after 2 a.m. Dec. 17, 2023, Lampkin opened fire on the Fripps outside Baba Bar at 51 Riverwalk Blvd., near the Jasper County and Beaufort County line.
The twins were standing in an area between nearby businesses when they were shot multiple times. Trajaan Fripp died at the scene, and Traquaan Fripp died later at a hospital despite emergency medical treatment. A female acquaintance was shot, as well, but survived her wounds.
Lampkin was arrested in Pooler, Ga., on Jan. 25, 2024, and extradited to South Carolina. His criminal history includes convictions for assault and battery, possession of marijuana, possession with intent to distribute marijuana, unlawful carry of a pistol and accessory to murder.
Circuit Court Judge Carmen T. Mullen handed down the sentence.
Campbell is a member of the Solicitor’s Office Career Criminal Unit, which prosecutes the circuit’s most violent and habitual offenders. That team has secured convictions against 549 of the 603 defendants it has prosecuted since its formation in 2009.
