Bradley Pope's family leaving the memorial erected outside the beachwear store where he was killed.
The family of a man shot and killed in front of a Garden City Beach store wants to know why the man charged in that killing was found not guilty.
On Thursday, an Horry County jury returned a verdict of not guilty for 23-year-old Eli Eliyahu who was charged with murdering 23-year-old Bradley Pope.
"It didn't just kill my nephew. That bullet went through every member of my family," Pope's aunt, Shari Ray, said a day after the trial's end.
Eliyahu said he shot Pope but did so only out of self-defense. Eliyahu's family owns Jaws Resort Wear where the shooting happened.
Eliyahu said in court that Pope's kids were being disruptive in the store on June 8, 2007 and that he asked Pope to quiet them down. That confrontation escalated until Eliyahu asked Pope to leave.
According to court testimony, Pope left the store and Eliyahu followed him to the parking lot where Eliyahu claims Pope then charged him.
Pope's family thinks that's a lie and asks why Eliyahu, who was carrying a gun, a knife, and an extra clip of ammo according to police, felt threatened.
The family was certain Eliyaho would be convicted.
"We thought that we would be able to heal yesterday, that our healing would begin yesterday. Now we look to the future, and it's like there's nothing left for us."
The jury deadlocked on the murder charge, but after being instructed by the judge to try again, they returned a verdict of not guilty.
"I feel that they were rushed. They were not given ample time. They came to a unanimous decision of not guilty to get out of that courtroom," said Ray.
Prosecutors on the case wouldn't comment on the case, and a call to reach Eliyahu's attorneys was not immediately returned.
