Dillon man dies after brutal beating - wistv.com - Columbia, South Carolina |

Dillon man dies after brutal beating

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Craig Bellmon (Source: Dillon Police) Craig Bellmon (Source: Dillon Police)
Source: WMBF News Reporter Stephanie Robusto Source: WMBF News Reporter Stephanie Robusto
Source: WMBF News Reporter Stephanie Robusto Source: WMBF News Reporter Stephanie Robusto

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DILLON COUNTY, SC (WMBF) - A Dillon County man has died after being beaten inside a Dillon home Tuesday morning.

According to Dillon County Coroner Donnie Grimsley, the victim is 39-year-old James "Greg" McLellan. Grimsley says McClellan was beaten in a home on Beaufort Street and was transported to McLeod Regional Medical Center early Tuesday morning.

The incident report from Dillon Police states the suspect in McLennan's death, 27-year-old Craig Alexander Bellmon, was standing in the doorway with a ripped shirt with police arrived. He also had a baseball bat in his hand.

Officers found McLennan in the home, bleeding from the head, with a "black du-rag" wrapped around his wound. He was unresponsive and did not have a pulse.

According to Bellmon, McLennan entered the home with a female friend of his girlfriend's to retrieve belongings she had left there. But while in the home, the woman began arguing with McClennan. Bellmon claims he asked the pair to leave but McLellan approached him.

That's when Bellmon grabbed a baseball bat from the couch and began swinging at McLellan's forearms, before delivering the initial blow to his head.

At some point during the exchange, the report states McLellan's female companion ran out of the home.

Bellmon claims in the report that as McLellan continued to try to stand on his feet, he began "chopping wood," hitting him repeatedly across the head with the baseball bat. Bellmon says the last blow was delivered as McLellan lied on the ground.

Coroner Grimsley was called to the medical center around 1:30 a.m. upon McLellan's death, and says an autopsy is planned for Tuesday afternoon to determine the exact cause of death.

Although it is not clear who the Beaufort Street home belongs to where the beating took place, Grimsley confirms it was not the home of the victim.

Craig Bellmon was handcuffed and transported to the Dillon County Detention Center after giving his statement at the home where the beating took place. He is charged with murder.

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