Anthony Michael Lemay was a 14-year-old White male and a student at Forestbrook Middle School in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. His family remembered him as a good student who was mature beyond his years. His father, A. Michael Lemay, recalled his son’s love for surfing and the joy he found in riding a go-kart, while his uncle remembered how he enjoyed building things and tinkering.
On the evening of Sunday, February 2, 2020, Anthony’s life was cut short inside a residence in the 500 block of 65th Avenue North. Around 5:15 p.m., Myrtle Beach police responded to a call at the housing complex and found Anthony with a single, fatal gunshot wound to the chest. He died from his injuries at the scene.
The investigation quickly focused on Anthony’s 20-year-old cousin, Tylor Daniel Deshaun Rogers, who was with him when the shooting occurred. According to arrest warrants, Rogers admitted to police that he had stolen a handgun from a vehicle earlier that day.
He claimed that he was trying to “make it safe” by unloading it. He then pointed the firearm at his cousin’s chest and pulled the trigger. When police arrived, they reportedly found Rogers crying over Anthony’s body while trying to apply pressure to the wound.
Rogers was arrested and charged with murder, possession of a weapon during a violent crime, auto burglary, possession of a stolen firearm, and simple possession of marijuana. He was initially denied bond but was released in early March 2020. The week following Anthony’s death was described as “hell” by his family, who were shocked and heartbroken by the sudden loss.
In September 2020, Tylor Rogers pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of Anthony Lemay. He was sentenced to four years of probation, bringing a legal conclusion to the case.
