80-year-old grandmother shot and killed behind an abandoned grocery store. Suspect faces federal charges.

 A grandmother in South Carolina was kidnapped and murdered with her body left behind an abandoned grocery store, prosecutors say. 

The details are the first time that police have detailed what happened to Mary Ann Elvington, 80, in late March. Dominique Davonah Brand was arrested on state charges on April 1 in connection to her murder. 

At the time of his arrest, police released no details on the events leading up to Elvington’s killing or why the stranger was accused of murder. 

This week, federal prosecutors announced they indicted Brand, 29, in connection to the death. He faces counts of kidnapping resulting in death, carjacking resulting in death and use of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence resulting in death.

On March 28, Brand entered Elvington’s home in Nichols, South Carolina, and kidnapped her, federal prosecutors claim. 

Brand forced Elvington to drive him in her in 2012 Buick LaCrosse to North Carolina and then back to South Carolina, according to investigators. Brand then forced Elvington into the backseat and drove away with her in the car. 

The suspect drove to an abandoned grocery store in Marion County, South Carolina, where he shot and killed Elvington behind the building, according to prosecutors. 

Brand then took the vehicle to the woods near a nightclub and abandoned it there. 

“While the indictment in this specific case speaks for itself, brazen violence, particularly against the elderly, will always be met with a strong, unified effort by law enforcement to bring the victims justice,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Rhett DeHart.  “We will never waver in our work to stop violent crime in South Carolina.”