Christopher Dontell pleads guilty to charges in 2020 killing of Gregory Rice

HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) — Former Deputy Horry County Coroner Christopher Dontell pleaded guilty to two charges Wednesday morning in the 2020 killing of Gregory Rice.

Dontell was also facing a murder charge in the killing of Gregory Vincent Rice in October 2020, but that charge has been dropped as part of the plea agreement. Rice’s body was found in the Pee Dee River on Nov. 8, 2020, according to authorities who said he had been shot multiple times.

Court resumed shortly after 10 a.m. Wednesday, and Circuit Judge Alex Hyman accepted Dontell’s guilty pleas to the charges of accessory after the fact of murder and conspiracy to commit kidnapping.

Prior to Dontell’s pleading guilty, prosecutors said a tarp and two cinder blocks were used to dispose of Rice’s body. There was also a video of Dontell leaving the area where Rice’s body was dumped.

As part of his plea agreement, Dontell agreed to testify against Megan Jackson, who is also charged with murder in Rice’s death. He will be sentenced after his testimony in that case, which is scheduled for February.

He faces up to 15 years in prison on the conspiracy charge and between zero and years for the accessory charge. Rice’s eldest son is also expected to give a victim impact statement at the sentencing.

Jury selection in the case took place on Monday, but proceedings were cut short by the judge on Tuesday because members of Rice’s family were not able to be in court.

Dontell and Jackson, the mother of Rice’s four children, were arrested in November 2020 after Rice’s body was found, but there have been multiple delays in their cases. Dontell’s case was postponed last June because of a scheduling conflict.

Jackson had been scheduled to go to trial in September, but her case was delayed. It was continued again last month, according to online Horry County records, and a new trial date has not been set.