Granite Countertops in Moncks Corner, SC

MONCKS CORNER — A former prosecutor who said he suffered from alcoholism when he abused his small children, one of whom was just an infant, was sentenced Jan. 19 to two years in state prison.

Michael Justin Mims, 41, pleaded guilty Jan. 19 in a Berkeley County courtroom to three counts of unlawful conduct toward a child. Each count carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

But he will receive credit for 13 days in the county jail and 437 days of house arrest, a sentencing document released Jan. 20 indicated.

The former DUI prosecutor was arrested in October 2021 after local law enforcement obtained video footage from inside his family’s Hanahan home that documented the father strangling, hitting and mocking his children in 2018. The footage came to light in family court proceedings after Mims’ wife filed for divorce in the summer of 2020.

Ninth Circuit Assistant Solicitor Kamila Szymczynska-Sas described the assaults in graphic language on Jan. 19 to a packed court room.

“We are here today to acknowledge the acts of abuse toward these innocent, small children who had no way of protecting themselves,” she said.

In August of 2018, Mims kicked his 18-month-old daughter to the ground in their family kitchen. The assault occurred in the presence of two other children, who said they were scared.

In October 2018, Mims repeatedly slapped the infant across the face. He demanded she shut up, grabbed her by the neck and repeatedly slammed her into furniture.

That same day, Mims strangled his son on a bed in the family’s home. The father threatened to kill the child, whose buttocks was exposed, and mocked him for urinating.

“Go potty you little girl,” he said. “How’s that butt feel buddy.”

Szymczynska-Sas said the defendant also slapped another son who was between 5 and 6 years old in September and November of 2019. Photo evidence showed the victim suffered a prominent bruise from the November assault, which kept him out of school for two days.

The mother of the victims said Jan. 19 that her children are in intensive therapy after suffering years of abuse from their father. She called her ex-husband’s violence “torture” and asked Circuit Judge Bentley Price to send a message through his sentence that South Carolina will not tolerate child abuse.

The couple’s divorce was finalized in December 2022, Berkeley County court records show. The mother has received sole custody over their four children.

Mims, freshly shaven and wearing a suit, said Jan. 19 that he suffered from alcoholism at the time of the assaults but has since sought treatment, forsaken alcohol and studied religion. The defendant said he has been sober since April 2020.

“I just wanted to tell you how ashamed I am of how I treated my children in those videos,” Mims said. “They’re amazing kids and I love them dearly.”

A third-party appointed by family court to advocate for the children wrote in a court filing submitted last month that Mims would not pose a continued threat to his children so long as he completely abstains from alcohol.

At the time of his arrest, Mims served as the Berkeley County Sheriff Office’s DUI prosecutor, responsible for prosecuting first-time drunken driving offenses in the county’s municipal courts. The assaults occurred before Mims held the post, according to his defense attorneys, Shaun Kent and Mason West.

Price, who said he had reviewed the video footage, passed down a 10-year prison sentence. The judge suspended the sentence to two years incarcerated followed by three years of probation. If Mims violates his probation, he will be required to serve the remaining eight years of the sentence behind bars.

Editor’s Note: This article was updated Jan. 20 to include the amount of credit Mims received for time served, which was stated in a sentencing document released on Jan. 20.

MONCKS CORNER, S.C. (WCSC) - For the first time in seven years, homeowners and landowners in Moncks Corner will see a 15 percent property tax increase starting on October 1.

At the Moncks Corner Town Council meeting Thursday evening, the vote for a new budget was passed unanimously with only one member of the public providing input.

The economy, fuel prices and labor costs are all contributing factors according to Mayor Michael Lockliear, but the main reason for the increase is to afford and pay public employees.

“Retention has been very tough over the last year keeping employees,” Lockliear said. “Since other people are paying more around us, we had to step up and do the same thing.”

The tax hike means a homeowner with a property valued at $250,000 will have to pay $100 more per year on property taxes. Statistically, it is normal to increase taxes by about two-percent each year.

Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office Special Prosecutor Tyler Jenkins was the only one who asked a question during the public input portion of the meeting.

“My real question as far as the millage rate, 15 percent in one year seems like a pretty high number,” Jenkins said. “Was there any discussion about why that wasn’t incrementally put into place?”

In response, Lockliear said this is the first time in seven years that the city has had to increase property tax, which he is very proud of.

“We did it so we wouldn’t have to come back in two years and do it again,” Lockliear said. “As a resident of Moncks Corner, I’d much rather be taxed one time now and then another time in 10 years or so, but not every two years.”

Every year, the city government meets for a budget workshop where they go through the department by department and cut what is needed for a balanced budget. This year, Lockliear said they were short about $325,000 with the more expensive costs coming from health care and retirement benefits to public employees

“With that being done, it put a big dent in our budget,” Lockliear said. “That’s why the millage increase came and hopefully it will take us through the next six to seven-eight years.”

The new budget takes place from Oct. 1, 2022, until Sept. 30, 2023. Operating revenues will increase from $12,417,159 to $15,622,744 and operating expenditures will increase from $14,151,802 to $15,363,175.

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UPDATE: After our report on Wednesday, DHEC reached out to News 2 letting us know they have approved the water permit, so the store can begin the process of opening. DETAILS HERE.

MONCKS CORNER, S.C. (WCBD) – People living in Moncks Corner have been long awaiting the opening of a new Publix shopping center. While the grocery store appears to be ready to open, many are now wondering “what is the holdup?”

“If you live in the area, you are excited about the store coming in. What we’re not excited about is how long it’s taking for it to open,” said Robert Esclavon, who stops by the center occasionally to see its progress.

The 75,000 square-foot Publix at the new Moncks Corner Marketplace was announced about two years ago. Today, things basically look finished – there are grocery carts inside, fixtures in place, and shelves waiting to be stocked. But still, the store sits unopened.

Based on a January 2021 press release, the shopping center was slated for completion in June 2022, with Publix expected to open in fall 2022.

“The few people I run into say it looks like it could be mid-September before it opens. I don’t know if they know what they’re talking about, but for a store that’s complete – except for product on the shelves – it makes you wonder what’s holding it up,” said Esclavon.

Esclavon reached out to News 2 to find out what is going on. Leaders with the Town of Moncks Corner said they are waiting on final approval from the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control.

“Right now, we are just waiting on DHEC to approve the water supply system over there. All the engineering has been done- the water is clear, it’s just a matter of getting everything signed off on the state DHEC office and they’ll be able to start moving in people and supplies,” explained Douglas Polen, Moncks Corner Community Development Director.

One person, who was familiar with the construction project, said they had to wait a few weeks for Berkeley Water and Sanitation to get their water meters installed. That process is now complete, and they have been waiting on DHEC for the past week and a half.

Officials with DHEC tell News 2 they are going to see what they can do to expedite the rest of the approval process so the store can finally open for business.

Esclavon said that is why he called us for help.

“Just having you guys, like you guys research it a little bit and maybe you push them along to have this project move up … they’re ready to go, I think,” he said.

Moncks Corner officials said once DHEC gives its final approval, Publix could open in as little as three to four weeks.

In what promises to be a family-friendly day of history, reenactments and games, Old Santee Canal Park, the Berkeley County Museum and Lord Berkeley Conservation Trust are welcoming visitors of all ages to their Colonial Day and Fort Fair Lawn grand opening, which kicks off at 10 a.m. on Sept. 24 at 900 Stony Landing Road in Moncks Corner.

The occasion marks the grand opening of Fort Fair Lawn, situated a mile away from Old Santee Canal Park.

Fort Fair Lawn is one of only two earthen military strongholds left in the United States, recounts Berkeley County Museum Director Chelsy Proper, with the other being Star Fort at the Ninety Six Historic Site, about 60 miles south of Greenville.

The Sept. 24 event will allow spectators to see Fort Fair Lawn in its current state, along with taking in reenactments provided by performers dressed in colonial attire. Some of the on-site actors will be armed with muskets and they may even fire off a canon or two.

As for the historical significance of the site, Proper explains that Fort Fair Lawn was actually built in the late 1770s by the British as a holding area to store their military armaments.

“They had it here because it’s close to the Cooper River and they were able to get their supplies up here. Moncks Corner was strategic during the revolution because it was kind of the gateway to Charleston,

“They really wanted to capture Charleston — which they did. The fort was held by the British until (late) 1781, when the patriots came in and attacked [it] and took it over.”

From that point, American troops never utilized Fort Fair Lawn, as the structure was left to be surrounded in overgrown vegetation while it progressively sank deeper into the ground.

And though it was practically abandoned by American forces, centuries later, historian Douglas Bostick of the South Carolina Preservation Battleground Trust describes the site in glowing terms by stating: “Fort Fair Lawn is probably the most pristine, intact original American Revolutionary War fortification in South Carolina, if not the country.”

Over the next 240 years after its abandonment, many locals would go drink beers at the fort or even ride their go carts around the old fortress.

So, while much of the action and reenactment activities are taking place at the fort site on Sept. 24, those who seek a deeper understanding of what transpired in Moncks Corner and the surrounding Charleston area during the American Revolutionary War period can drop in on a lecture at Old Santee Canal Park. The historical learning sessions are scheduled to run from 10 a.m. through 3 p.m.

The subjects covered during these discussions will include a snapshot of residents who remained loyal to the British regime, as well as South Carolina’s connection to Barbados, as many Charlestonians of the time originally came from the island country in the West Indies. In fact, many plantations in South Carolina very closely resemble similar estates that were prevalent in Barbados.

In addition, the first annual Colonial Day will feature games for children in the form of scavenger hunts. Other event activities include indigo dyeing, candle making, native birds/plant talk, the fabrication of sweetgrass baskets and an information session on colonial medicine.

And those who wish to tour the Berkeley Historic Museum can enjoy an up-close and personal view of artifacts found inside Fort Fair Lawn in the form of buttons, soldier belt and shoe buckles and more.

Proper considers Colonial Day and the grand opening of Fort Fair Lawn as an exciting learning opportunity for many newcomers to the Lowcountry.

“There are so many people moving to the area that a lot of them don’t know this history. So, there has been a renewed interest just in the [American] Revolutionary War in general. I’m not sure where that renewed interest comes from, I’m just glad it’s here,” says the researcher/interpreter who hails from the Bluegrass State of Kentucky.

Additional information on the Sept. 24 affair can be found on Berkeley County Museum and Heritage Center Facebook page.

MONCKS CORNER, S.C. (WCIV) — It’s been a brutally tough start for the Berkeley Stags football team. 1-5 is not anything anybody in Moncks Corner is used to seeing. What the team is going through, nothing, compared to their head coach who has for much of it been unapologetically absent.

For years, we’ve called Dr. Jerry Brown the “Good Doctor.” He’s not a medical doctor. He is a good man.

“My wife had a situation where I had to step away for three weeks, tough to get on and get on solid ground,” says the legendary head man.

One of the sweetest ladies in Moncks Corner is his wife, Mary Ames Brown. Sweet, exemplified, by the thousands upon thousands of Monday morning cookies baked, after hundreds and hundreds of Friday night wins.

“I’ll say this, she is a lot better at what she does than I am at what I do. She is definitely in the hall of fame, at that level as far as coaches' wives. Everyone here in Moncks Corner loves her. She’s felt the prayers, and that’s been precious.”

She’s needed them.

Her health has been in decline of late. Jerry has been there to deliver whatever else she has needed.

Day and night, month after month- he’s by her side. Practicing, what he’s always preached to his players, preparing them to be husbands and fathers.

“Came to a clash with my two commitments in the world- football and my wife. It’s been a nightmare. Operations were successful, she got over there trying to recover. She had 30 days in the hospital. That’s tough. She is weak as water some days, some days she feels a bit better. It will take a long time to be back how she was and gain her stamina.”

With this change, a marked change in Berkeley’s success on the field. Understandably so, when the head coach is so much a part of the team that is so much a part of the town.

“Tough situation emotionally for me. I want to treat the kids well and continue in a positive manner, but it's tough because my mind and heart will be other places sometimes. When I’m in football, I focus 100 percent on football. When I am a caretaker, I focus wholly on her and a caretaker. It’s really hard to mix both worlds. I’m really a single-minded guy. I came to the game on Friday and I felt real bad, she was weak as water that day and struggling. You are caught in between. It’s a tug of war between two commitments I have and balance it.”

She presses on, and so does he. They know what’s most important, and they know what those “sickness and health” vows mean.

“She wants me to go and go, come here and be with the kids, but at the same time, she needs her man.”

On the other side of this, those sweet cookies, will be just what the “Good Doctor” ordered.