Conway man sentenced 20 years after trying to break into 71-year-old woman’s home

HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WMBF) - A Horry County jury sentenced a Conway man to 20 years in prison following his conviction of attempting to burglarize a 71-year-old woman’s home in 2018.

The Horry County Police Department arrested 37-year-old Devin Lavar Outen in 2018 for the attempted burglary of a Green Leaf Drive residence.

The department said on July 6, 2018, around 3:45 a.m., the 71-year-old victim called 911 reporting a man had used a tire iron to force open her back door.

According to the report, she grabbed her gun and ran out the front door into the front yard while on the phone with 911.

The report states the victim’s dog ran to the back of the home, after which a man appeared at the back of the home and ran at the victim with his arms stretched out toward her. The victim said she fired two gunshots at the man and thought one of the shots hit him.

Court documents say the victim reported the man then ran to an adjacent empty lot, got into a vehicle and tried to drive away, but struck a ditch. The man reportedly got out of the vehicle and ran into the woods.

Horry County police found Outen a short distance away along S.C. 544 near the Dollar General store and took him into custody, according to the report. He had suffered a gunshot wound to his stomach area and was taken to a local hospital for treatment, authorities said.

Outen was charged with incident and released on bond. He failed to return to court for his trial and sentencing, so a bench warrant was issued for his arrest.

In February 2020, he was tried in absentia and convicted of attempted first-degree burglary, according to the 15th Circuit Solicitor’s Office.

On Saturday, October 16, 2021, Outen was booked into the J. Reuben Long Detention Center on two counts of failure to appear, one count of escape, and one count of tampering with an electronic monitoring device, according to jail records.

Tonya Root, spokesperson for the 15th Circuit Solicitor’s Office, said she did not immediately know where Outen was apprehended; however, jail records list Asheville, N.C., as the last known address.