Lovequawn Scott Case: Missed Warnings and Unanimous Verdict

The Lovequawn Scott case ended on October 25, 2019, when a South Carolina circuit judge found the 22-year-old former Coastal Carolina University student not guilty by reason of insanity in the March 2018 bludgeoning deaths of four relatives near Mount Pleasant. Prosecutors, defense attorneys, and three mental health professionals all agreed that Scott was in the grip of schizophrenia’s onset and could not distinguish right from wrong when he killed his grandparents, an aunt, and a 15-year-old cousin with dumbbells inside the family home.¹

What Happened at 2751 Atlanta Drive

Before sunrise on Saturday, March 10, 2018, Scott used a set of dumbbells to beat four members of the Manigault family to death inside their home in an unincorporated part of Charleston County near Mount Pleasant.² The victims were his grandfather Joseph Manigault, 72; his grandmother Rose Manigault, 69; his aunt Kenya Manigault, 42; and his 15-year-old cousin Faith Manigault, a student at Wando High School.¹

Charleston County deputies responded to a disturbance call just before 11:30 a.m. As they entered through a side door, Scott walked out the front, covered in blood and with lacerations on one hand. Inside, deputies found the house ransacked and all four victims dead. One dumbbell lay beside Joseph Manigault’s body in the garage; another was on a bedroom floor. The county coroner ruled all four deaths blunt force trauma.³ Scott was detained at the scene and charged with four counts of murder.⁴

In the police interview that followed, Scott was paranoid. He told officers they were trying to poison him and said he did “not want to hear any evil.” Taken to a psychiatric hospital afterward, he listed three of the people he had just killed on his visitation form, apparently unaware they were dead.⁵

Warning Signs the System Missed

For weeks before the killings, people around Scott had noticed him unraveling. Acquaintances said he was running more than a dozen miles a day from S.C. Highway 41 across the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge into downtown Charleston. In the final days, he grew paranoid and told relatives to unplug their electronics.¹

The day before the killings, his aunt Kenya took him to a medical facility. Scott told doctors that a “tiny man in his throat” was telling him to do things he did not want to do. He was turned away because he had no health insurance and no money to pay.⁵ That same morning, he drove to the family’s church, grabbed a contract worker, and screamed that he needed help. Workers calmed him and took him back to the Atlanta Drive house.¹ He also stopped at a Doctors Care clinic on U.S. Highway 17 to see a cousin who worked there. Coworkers later told investigators the cousin said Scott had schizophrenia and that she was sending him home to take his medication, though the cousin denied that conversation. No paperwork was filed for the visit, and the attending physician said he did not know Scott had been in the clinic until the killings made the news.²

That evening at the church, he appeared “enraged and weeping,” and two people calmed him by praying and singing with him. Faith Manigault texted family members later that night saying she was afraid because Scott was “acting strangely.”⁵

Why the Insanity Verdict Was Unanimous

Circuit Judge Markley Dennis presided over a bench trial on October 25, 2019, and found Scott not guilty by reason of insanity.¹ Two mental health professionals had evaluated Scott and concluded he could not tell right from wrong because of the onset of schizophrenia and a paranoid mental state. The Ninth Circuit Solicitor’s Office then asked for a third evaluation from a doctor at the Medical University of South Carolina, who reached the same conclusion. Prosecutors did not contest the insanity defense.⁵

Managing Assistant Solicitor Jennifer Kneece Shealy called the agreement among all parties “rare but necessary in this case because it was clear Scott was very sick.”⁵ Scott’s defense attorney told the court that Scott “came from a family that all adored each other.” Shealy said surviving relatives were “conflicted” about the ruling but that she hoped it would bring them closure.⁶

Where Scott Is Now, and for How Long

Judge Dennis ordered Scott committed to a high-security mental health facility under a treatment plan approved by the South Carolina Department of Mental Health.⁶ Under South Carolina law, someone acquitted by reason of insanity of a violent crime is first hospitalized for up to 120 days of evaluation, after which a judge decides whether continued hospitalization is required. Because Scott’s charges were violent, he cannot leave the facility grounds unless a department employee is with him in his physical presence at all times.⁷

Shealy told reporters Scott would stay in the facility until he was no longer a threat to himself or the public, and that he would be supervised by medical professionals for the rest of his life. Any release into the community would require him to appear before a judge.⁸ The Department of Mental Health keeps ongoing responsibility for his care regardless of where he lives, and if he is ever moved to a less restrictive setting the Department of Probation, Parole, and Pardon Services monitors compliance and files quarterly reports with the court.⁹ Shealy put the outcome in broader terms: “We as a society don’t put people away forever just because they have a mental illness. Mental health professionals need to be involved.”¹

1
Post and Courier. Mount Pleasant Area Man Who Beat 4 Relatives to Death Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity
2
Post and Courier. Quadruple Homicide Suspect Sought Help Before Mount Pleasant Area Killings, Report Says
3
ABC News 4. Manigault Murder Suspect May Have Beaten Family to Death With Dumbbells, Deputies Say
4
WBTW. Victims in Mt. Pleasant Quadruple Homicide Beaten to Death, Deputies Say
5
Live5 News. Man Who Killed Family Members in Mt. Pleasant Found Not Guilty by Reason of Mental Insanity
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ABC News 4. Man Who Murdered Mt. Pleasant Family Members Found Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity
7
Justia. South Carolina Code Section 17-24-40
8
CountOn2. Man Charged With Killing 4 in Mount Pleasant Found Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity
9
South Carolina Courts. Court Order 2014-04-24-01