Ten-month-old killed in Fairfield crash. Mother and child were from Irmo, coroner says
A 10-month-old girl from Irmo died when the car her mother was driving crashed on a rural stretch of highway north of Columbia.
The death occurred after the car ran off the side of U.S. 321 in Fairfield County about 10 a.m. Thursday morning. The driver, whose name was not available, then overcorrected, causing the car to turn over several times, Fairfield County Coroner Chris Hill said.
Both the mother who drove the car and the child, Honesty Swearington, were ejected from the vehicle. Neither was wearing restraints, according to preliminary reports from the state Highway Patrol, Hill said.
“Anytime you deal with a child (death), it’s hard,’’ Hill told The State newspaper Friday. “I have grandkids around that baby’s age.’’
Hill said the death is a sad reminder to keep children buckled up when driving automobiles.
The wreck occurred near Devil’s Race Track Road in southern Fairfield County just a few miles from the Richland County line, Hill said.
The car, a 2014 Toyota sedan, was the only vehicle involved in the wreck, according to the S.C. Highway Patrol. The mother was transported to a hospital, the patrol said.
