Upstate Mother of 2 Murdered in Mauldin; Grew Up in Grand Strand

Murdered Upstate mother of 2 grew up in Grand Strand

A community is coming together after two women were killed at an apartment complex in Mauldin.

GREENVILLE, S.C. –

FOX Carolina is learning more about one of the victims of a double homicide that happened Saturday night in Mauldin. Mariellen Minor, 41, was killed by her estranged husband, Christopher Minor, 50, when she drove to pick up her two children from Arbors at Brookfield Apartments, where Christopher Minor lived, according to the Mauldin Police Department.

Mariellen Minor’s friend, 52-year-old Kim Melissa Thrift, was also shot to death during the incident. Deputies said Mariellen Minor was living with Thrift in Greenville County while estranged from her husband. Although Mariellen Minor lived in the Upstate, a friend of hers told FOX Carolina that she grew up in North Myrtle Beach, where her father, Harold Bessent, owned the popular shag club, Fat Harold’s.

According to her LinkedIn profile, Mariellen Minor worked as a real estate agent in Greenville and graduated from Clemson University in 2004.