The Brief:
A routine meetup in Berkeley County turned violent when Harry Phillips shot an intended victim twice during an attempted carjacking. After Phillips ran out of ammunition and began pistol-whipping the victim, the wounded man used a knife to fatally stab Phillips in self-defense.
Olivia Catherine Nance was arrested for obstruction of justice after fleeing the scene in the victim’s vehicle and attempting to hide it. Authorities cleared the victim of any criminal liability, ruling the death a justifiable homicide. The victim received emergency medical treatment at a regional hospital.
MONCKS CORNER, SC — A routine family meetup erupted into a terrifying, multi-stage struggle for survival in the Lowcountry. Investigators with the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office have untangled a complex web of betrayal, armed robbery, and close-quarters violence that left one suspect dead, another jailed, and an intended victim recovering from multiple trauma injuries.
The incident originated when the intended victim traveled to a residence near Spring Grove Road in neighboring Georgetown County to meet his cousin, 34-year-old Olivia Catherine Nance. Nance and her boyfriend, Harry Phillips of St. Stephen, entered the intended victim’s vehicle under the guise of a routine interaction, prompting the intended victim to drive the group to the Old Wing Road area in Berkeley County.
The Ambush and the Pursuit
The moment the vehicle reached its destination, the interaction turned predatory. Phillips drew a handgun and attempted to execute a forced robbery of the intended victim’s vehicle right inside the cabin. During the initial scramble, Phillips fired a shot, striking the intended victim.
Despite suffering a gunshot wound, the intended victim managed to escape the tight confines of the vehicle and fled straight into a nearby wooded area. Phillips pursued him into the trees, continuously pressing his trigger and shooting the fleeing intended victim a second time.
Running Empty: The Close-Quarters Turnaround
The tactical dynamic shifted instantly when Phillips pulled his trigger and his handgun clicked empty. Having depleted his ammunition supply but refusing to disengage, Phillips closed the distance and began violently pistol-whipping the intended victim across the head with the frame of the empty firearm.
Bleeding from multiple gunshot wounds and blunt-force head trauma, the intended victim managed to access a personal knife. In a final, desperate act of preservation, the intended victim drove the blade into Phillips’ chest. The single stab wound proved catastrophic; Phillips collapsed and died directly on the dirt floor of the woods line.
The severely injured intended victim managed to crawl his way out of the dense undergrowth and collapsed on the shoulder of the roadway. A passing motorist spotted him, pulled over, and immediately rushed him to a regional hospital for emergency medical stabilization.
Flight, Concealment, and Obstruction Charges
As her boyfriend lay dying in the trees, Nance demonstrated zero familial or human remorse. Instead of dialing 911 or seeking medical assets for her wounded cousin, she jumped into the intended victim’s abandoned vehicle and sped away from the scene.
Detectives tracking the escape path discovered that Nance drove the stolen vehicle into a remote wooded sector near Shulerville, attempting to camouflage the car beneath branches and brush. She then fled to a separate residence in an attempt to evade the unfolding tracking perimeter.
BCSO tactical elements successfully breached her hiding spot, placing Nance under arrest. Olivia Catherine Nance, a resident of Big Dam Swamp Drive in Andrews, was processed into the county jail on initial counts of Obstruction of Justice, with heavy secondary felony indictments actively pending.
Following a exhaustive review of the physical ballistics and crime scene layout, detectives and prosecutors from the Ninth Circuit Solicitor’s Office explicitly cleared the victim of any criminal liability, ruling Phillips’ death a textbook case of justifiable homicide.
Safety Tip: This terrifying lowcountry encounter delivers a stark, definitive masterclass in “The Reality of Mechanical Failures” and “Alternative Tool Deployment.” For defensive carriers and citizens alike, this incident proves that a firearm does not grant an attacker absolute invincibility. Handguns run out of ammunition, experience catastrophic malfunctions, or turn into simple blunt objects. If you are trapped in an enclosed space or a wooded area facing an active shooter, your primary directive is to stay in the fight regardless of your physical injuries. The moment you register that an attacker’s firearm has malfunctioned or run dry, the reactionary gap closes instantly. This is your absolute window to transition from flight to aggressive counter-pressure. By maintaining the presence of mind to access an alternative edge tool when his attacker closed the distance, this intended victim completely altered the outcome of a fatal ambush.
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