Ryan Woodruff convicted of murder for third time, gets life sentence in Georgetown County

Ryan Woodruff, 33, was sentenced to life in prison on Sept. 17 for killing Ty'Quez Walker in 2023 — his third murder conviction in South Carolina.

Georgetown County man receives third life sentence for 2023 shotgun killing

Ryan Woodruff, 33, has been sentenced to life in prison for the third time, after a jury in Georgetown County found him guilty of murdering Ty'Quez De'Metrius Walker in 2023, postandcourier.com reports. The sentence was handed down on Sept. 17.

According to prosecutors, Woodruff shot Walker with a shotgun on Jan. 24, 2023, while Walker and others were getting tattoos at Woodruff's mobile home. At the time of the killing, Woodruff was out on bond for murder charges related to the deaths of two elderly relatives.

A woman who had been Woodruff's friend and romantic partner testified during the trial that she was held at gunpoint until Woodruff allowed her and the others to leave the scene.

A central issue in the trial was the fact that Walker was carrying a handgun when he was shot. Defense attorney William Edgeworth III argued the situation was more complicated than the prosecution presented, noting that the "paying customers," as he put it using air quotes, were armed and receiving illegal tattoos. "I'm sure when you were sitting there, you were like, 'There has got to be something more to this,'" Edgeworth told the jury.

Prosecutors pushed back firmly. Senior Assistant Solicitor Elizabeth Bryant told the court: "That pistol in Ty'Quez's waistband never came out. He never pointed it at Ryan." Assistant Solicitor Adam Harrelson added: "He was there simply to get a tattoo." Witnesses corroborated that Walker never drew his weapon or made any verbal reference to it.

Woodruff was previously convicted in 2024 of murdering Roger Woodruff and Debra Goins, who were killed in their home in 2021. Woodruff had been living with the two at the time of their deaths. He received a life sentence for each of those killings as well.

Source: Google News GY — Georgetown