Who is Mallory Beach, and how is she connected to the Murdaugh family?

People are revisiting the heartbreaking Mallory Beach story now that Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal has premiered on Netflix. 

A new addition to the true crime documentaries canon, the three-part docuseries—which debuted on the streamer on Wednesday, February 22—chronicles the rise and fall of a wealthy South Carolina attorney who went from upholding the law to breaking it. 

Alex Murdaugh was charged with murdering his wife and one of his two sons, Paul, and scamming his clients out of roughly $8 million, to name just a few of his offenses. But where does 19-year-old Mallory Beach fit into this scenario? Here's what we know.  

Who is Mallory Beach from Netflix's 'Murdaugh Murders'?

Mallory Beach was a 19-year-old South Carolina native who was working in a clothing boutique and pursuing a career in interior design, per CBS News. 

She and her boyfriend, Anthony Cook, were headed to a party one February evening in 2019 when they and their friends met up with Paul Murdaugh and his girlfriend. Throughout the course of the evening, the group purchased alcohol underage and made their way over to a bar. According to reports, Paul had used the I.D. of his older brother Buster in order to make the purchases. 

Things took a frightening turn when Murdaugh decided to take his family's boat out at 1am. Beach's boyfriend had allegedly told Murdaugh to turn around and drop the group off when they witnessed his erratic driving, but Murdaugh refused. 

About an hour after they took the boat out, Murdaugh allegedly crashed it into the Archers Creek Bridge, which sent Beach flying out of her seat. Although the other members of the group were taken to the hospital for their injuries, with the exception of Cook, Beach's body wasn't discovered until several days later, about five miles down the river from where the boat initially crashed. 

There was speculation going on around town that Murdaugh, whose blood alcohol content was three times over the legal limit that night, had not been punished accordingly due to his family's stature. Per CBS, Murdaugh was indicted and charged with three felony counts of boating under the influence, including causing the death of Mallory Beach and seriously injuring two fellow passengers. 

Ultimately, nothing had ever transpired in court, as Paul Murdaugh was killed before anything could be taken to trial and, soon after, the focus pivoted towards his father, Alex.

"With Paul not being here now, I don't think my niece, Mallory, will get justice," Beach's aunt, Lynn Reavis, told CBS News. "With both of them being deceased, it just ended. The case ended. All I ever wanted was for him to get on the stand and say, 'I'm sorry.' That's all I ever wanted to hear." 

The new Murdaugh Murders docuseries explores this accident and other untimely deaths surrounding the Murdaugh family, as well as other suspicious and immoral behavior.

"There are facts that don't add up and bodies that are tied to this family," we hear in the doc's teaser.

Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal is now streaming on Netflix.