Settlement reached in Murdaugh boat crash lawsuit

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – A multi-million dollar settlement has been reached between the victims of a fatal boat crash, former Hampton County lawyer and convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh, and a convenience store chain accused of selling alcohol to minors.

According to the victims’ attorney Mark Tinsley, the $18 million settlement was reached Sunday morning after hours of negotiations.

$15 million will go to the family of Mallory Beach, who died after being thrown from a boat driven by the youngest Murdaugh son, Paul, in 2019.

Paul, who was underaged at the time, had been drinking all day, according to the four surviving passengers.

The remaining $3 million will be split among the survivors: Anthony Cook, Connor Cook, Morgan Daughty, and Miley Altman.

Beach’s family sued the Murdaugh family, including Paul, but the charges against him were dropped after his death.

Alex Murdaugh remained a defendant in the case, alongside Parker’s Convenience Store, where Paul bought the alcohol using his brother Buster’s ID.

The case was set to go to trial on August 14, but will no longer happen.

“We are pleased we were able to get some resolution on this case and keep the Beach family from having to go through the pain and suffering of a trial and hear testimony, and have to relive their daughters’ death,” Tinsley said in a statement. “We are happy the settlement agreement is not confidential as well so that the public sees that you will be held responsible no matter who you are or how much money you have.”

Tinsley added that the agreement does not stop the civil conspiracy case he has filed against Parker’s for the Beach family.

That civil suit alleges that Parker’s teamed with attorneys and documentarian Vicky Ward to launch “a social media campaign to inflict severe emotional distress upon the Plaintiffs to diminish their resolve to prosecute Parker’s for contributing to causing the death of Mallory Beach in the Civil Action and arranged for or participated in the distribution of the confidential mediation and other private materials.”

Editor’s note: This story is breaking and will be updated.