The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has confirmed the 2022 conviction of Dominique Devonah Brand for kidnapping and murdering Mary Ann Elvington, an 80-year-old woman from Horry County. The court's decision follows a bench trial held in September 2022.
Evidence presented during the trial detailed that on March 28, 2021, Brand entered Ms. Elvington's home in Nichols, South Carolina. Prior to this incident, Brand had burglarized another residence and a local church, stealing a shotgun. He forced Ms. Elvington to drive him across state lines to Lake Waccamaw, North Carolina, before returning to South Carolina. At a remote location in Marion County, Brand executed Ms. Elvington with the stolen shotgun and concealed her car behind an abandoned club in Marion.
Despite denying the murder in his post-arrest statement, Brand was found guilty through DNA evidence, cell phone analytics, and crime scene analysis.
“We are pleased that the Fourth Circuit has affirmed the convictions we proved beyond a reasonable doubt in the senseless kidnapping and murder of Ms. Mary Ann Elvington,” stated Acting U.S. Attorney Brook B. Andrews for the District of South Carolina. “This has been a painful ordeal for her loved ones, and we send our continued support to Ms. Elvington’s family.”
United States District Judge Sherri A. Lydon sentenced Brand to two concurrent life sentences for carjacking and kidnapping charges plus an additional ten years for firearm use during these crimes. Brand is currently held at USP Hazelton in West Virginia.
The FBI Columbia Field Office led the investigation with assistance from various local law enforcement agencies including SLED and several police departments from South Carolina counties involved in the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Everett McMillian and Kathleen Stoughton prosecuted alongside Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Hixson.