CONWAY, SC (WBTW) – Horry County police have charged a man with manslaughter after a death in a Conway home early Monday morning.
Detectives say 37-year-old Gary Demonte Williams of Conway was booked into the detention center Monday and charged with voluntary manslaughter.
According to the warrants, Williams choked the victim to death.
“Williams did without malice and aforethought in a sudden heat of passion soon after sufficient legal provocation grab the victim Mr. Matthew Donovan from behind and place him in the choking position,” according to the document.
Officers were called to a home near 3645 Hwy 701 South around 3:30 a.m. Monday morning after a woman called 911 to report an unresponsive man. The woman told police that the man – who officers note did not have a pulse and was not breathing – had been in a fight with another man earlier that morning.
Horry County Deputy Coroner Tony Hendrick identifies the victim as 32-year-old Matthew Donovan. Hendrick says Donovan was pronounced dead at the scene but says a cause of death is pending until autopsy results are complete.
According to a police report, Donovan was found in the living room of the home facedown, partially on the couch, with his head buried in the pillow.
Police note that the man with whom Donovan had been fighting left the home before officers arrived.
