Lexington woman found dead a day after crashing SUV down embankment, coroner says
A Lexington woman was found dead in an SUV after she crashed down an embankment, the Lexington County Coroner’s Office said Thursday.
The wreck occurred Tuesday night, but the body of April Lafay Smith was not found until Wednesday afternoon, Coroner Margaret Fisher said in a news release.
The collision happened at about 11 p.m., said Master Trooper David Jones of the South Carolina Highway Patrol.
The 54-year-old Lexington resident was driving west on Mill Stream Road, when she ran off the right side of the road, hit a ditch and went down an embankment, Jones said. The crash occurred near the intersection with Lee Kleckley Road, which is about a mile from Corley Mill Road.
The 2008 Toyota SUV was partially submerged in a creek when a passing driver noticed it at about 1 p.m., the coroner’s office said.
Smith was pronounced dead at the scene, according to Fisher. She was wearing a seat belt at the time of the wreck, the coroner said.
No cause of death was made public by the coroner’s office, which called the crash an accident.
The collision remains under investigation by Highway Patrol.
