A homeless man slept outside in Myrtle Beach. A NC teen is accused of killing him (2024)

MYRTLE BEACH— Pat Crosland didn't know Robert Khattar, but his deathhaunts her.

Crosland, 59, got evicted in late January after her partner died. Now homeless, she stays within minutes of the spot in Myrtle Beach where Khattar was brutally killed on Feb. 13.

“I don’t ever feel safe," Crosland said, crying. "If I don’t have four walls around me, I don’t sleep. I feel like the moment I do fall asleep, the same thing that happened to that man (Khattar) is going to happen to me.”

Khattar, 43, died after suffering "multiple blunt force and chopping injuries to his face," according to a news release from the Horry County Coroner's Office. He was from Michigan but had been living on the streets of Myrtle Beach.

Khattarwas sleeping in front of a Sherwin-Williams Paint Store when he was assaulted. His body was discovered shortly after 7 a.m. Feb. 14 and Myrtle Beach police were called.

Investigators haven't said what led to the homicide, but they arrested 18-year-old Everett Ellis of Wilson, N.C., and charged him with Khattar's murder.

During Ellis's bond hearing in city court Feb. 15, Judge Byron David said he could not set bond because of the severity of the charge, meaning Ellis will have a bond hearing in general sessions court in Conway. Ellis's initial appearance is scheduled for1 p.m. March 15.

Ellis has asked to be represented by a public defender.If convicted, he faces 30 years to life in prison.

Khattar was killed near a spot where many of the city's homeless gather. In the wake of the slaying, some expressed concerns about their safety.

Jonathan Lewis of Myrtle Beach said he met Ellis several weeks before the murder. Lewis said Ellis told him he had walked to Myrtle Beach from North Carolina and Lewis said he sometimes saw Ellis speaking incoherently or behaving in ways that he described as “erratic.”

Lewis, who has lived in Myrtle Beach for over 30 years and has been homeless at least five times, lives in a camper right across the street from where Khattar was killed. He said he has wanted to leave the area for a while, and the murder has made him more focused on that goal.

“That recent murder just hit too close to him for me,” Lewis said. “It’s dangerous out here and there’s been so much violence lately.”