HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) -- A Tennessee man who shot his 18-year-old stepdaughter in the shoulder as she tried to stop an argument between him and his estranged wife at a North Myrtle Beach resort was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Tuesday.

Jeffrey Allen Branam, 63, of Knoxville, pleaded guilty to assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature as he was about to go on trial in Horry County Circuit Court, the 15th Circuit Solicitor's Office said. The plea came after a jury had been chosen but before opening statements began.

The shooting happened on July 28, 2023, at the Crescent Shores resort in North Myrtle Beach, the solicitor's office said. Branam was served an order of protection in Tennessee the day before that required him to stay away from his estranged family.

Instead,

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