Judge signs temporary injunction to shutter property where cross-burning suspects lived
HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) — A temporary injunction to shutter the property where a couple allegedly set a cross on fire in their yard last Thanksgiving to intimidate their Black neighbors is now official.
Judge William H. Seals Jr. signed the order Wednesday, and it took effect immediately. The temporary injunction came after a hearing on the 15th Circuit Solicitor’s Office’s efforts to have the Corbett Drive property where Alexis Hartnett and Worden Butler lived declared a public nuisance.
The solicitor’s office filed the request in January, asking for a temporary injunction or restraining order that could remove Butler and Hartnett from the property.
In the order, Seals said Butler’s burning of the cross towards the Williams’ home was a “profound act of racial hatred.”
The order accuses Butler and Hartnett of several other instances of breaches of peace and other neighbors who have experienced nuisance behavior by Butler and Hartnett.
The order calls the property a “staging ground for the harassment and assault of their surrounding neighbors.”
The order said that although the measures are drastic, they are “necessary to protect the physical and mental safety of neighbors and children in the neighborhood.”
Butler and Hartnett are banned from entering onto the house and yard on 1400 Corbett Drive. All employees, agents, servants, subordinates of Butler and Hartnett are also prohibited, the order states.
The order was posted on the premises by Horry County police and the premises is wrapped in evidence tape.
Everyone in the home has seven days from the date of the order and any unauthorized people on the property will be deemed as trespassers, the order states. The home should not be occupied until further notice of the court.
The only person who can enter the property is Janet Butler, the owner of the property, and she must receive written permission from either Captain Danny Furr or the Horry County police chief.
Horry County police will keep track of all written permission slips given to Butler, the order says.
Any pets found on the property seven days after the order’s signing will be taken into custody by Horry County authorities and any pets not claimed within 21 days of the order being signed will be considered abandoned and will become property of Horry County.
The order will expire after one year or when a final order is entered. Whichever comes first, the order states.
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Taylor Ford is a digital journalist for News13. She joined the News13 team in January 2023. Taylor is a Florence native and covers the Pee Dee out of News13’s Florence Bureau. Read more of Taylor’s work here.
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