BEAUFORT, S.C. (May 11, 2026) — A 30-year-old Port Royal man was sentenced last week to 35 years in prison for eight felony charges connected to two armed robberies and two other violent incidents.
During the second robbery, at a Parker’s gas station on Ribaut Road, Shykeim Raykawan Wright shot a clerk multiple times.
“This 35-year sentence underscores the gravity of the defendant’s ongoing and violent actions,” said Samantha Molina of the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office, who prosecuted the case. “This defendant has shown a blatant disregard for human life and is a repeat offender. This outcome helps protect our community.”
Wright pleaded guilty Tuesday in Beaufort County General Sessions Court to attempted murder, two counts of armed robbery and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime for his role in the Jan. 26, 2022, robbery at the former Parker’s gas station at 1451 Ribaut Road, where a clerk was shot in the face. The gas station has since been demolished.
Two days earlier, Wright entered the Dollar General at 1675 Ribaut Road while armed, pointed a handgun at two clerks, stole $372 and fled in a gray Kia. He was later arrested in Savannah.
In total, he pleaded guilty to eight felonies stemming from four separate incidents. Seven of the charges carried the maximum sentence of 30 years, all to be served concurrently. He received a five-year sentence on one weapons charge, to be served consecutively.
His charges also included first-degree assault and battery for attacking a corrections officer at the Beaufort County Detention Center while he was being held in the gas station robbery case, and second-degree burglary for a May 17, 2021, incident on Tailbird Road in which he kicked in an apartment door and struck a woman.
Wright’s criminal history includes two counts of pointing and presenting a firearm (2015); first-degree assault and battery (2015), for which he received a 10-year suspended sentence with five years to serve and five years’ probation; third-degree assault and battery (2018); and a 2021 probation violation related to the assault conviction.
Circuit Court Judge Carmen T. Mullen imposed the sentence.
Solicitor’s Office Investigator Mike Winston and Victim Advocate Maria Castillo assisted Molina. Molina is assigned to the Solicitor’s Office Career Criminal Unit, which prosecutes the circuit’s most violent and habitual offenders. She primarily handles cases in Beaufort County.
