‘She was a great girl and I miss her very much’

A Lexington County woman was sentenced to a substantial prison sentence for causing the death of a 21-year-old after pleading guilty to DUI.

Destiny Heather Mills, 25, was sentenced to 10 years in prison Thursday after pleading guilty to Felony DUI Involving Death, a violent crime and a “no parole” offense, according to the Eleventh Circuit Solicitor’s Office.

Mills was found responsible for the traffic collision that resulted in the 2015 death of Olivia Johnson, a Domino’s employee who was leaving work when the incident occurred, according to the Eleventh Circuit Solicitor’s Office. Toxicology tests revealed Mills had a blood alcohol content level of .12 percent, above the legal limit.

“These incidents are the most preventable sort of tragedy that we see in the court system,” said assistant solicitor Todd Wagoner, who handled the prosecution of the case.

Around 2 a.m. on Sept. 1, 2015, Johnson was in the front passenger seat of a 1996 Jeep Cherokee on I-26 with her boyfriend, Joseph Mozingo, IV, who was driving. Johnson and Mozingo were leaving work when the 2011 Kia Soul Mills was driving struck the back of the Jeep near mile marker 113, according to the Eleventh Circuit Solicitor’s Office.

Both cars lost control, and Johnson was ejected from her vehicle as a result of the collision, according to the Eleventh Circuit Solicitor’s Office.

In 2015, Lexington County Coroner Margaret Fisher said Johnson was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the collision.

Mozingo placed a frantic 911 call and told the dispatcher that he could not find his girlfriend, eventually discovering a gravely injured Johnson on the side of the road, according to the Eleventh Circuit Solicitor’s Office. Johnson was later pronounced dead at Lexington Medical Center.

Johnson was a 2012 graduate of Brookland-Cayce High School and attended Midlands Technical College. The Eleventh Circuit Solicitor’s Office said that during the sentencing hearing, a close friend of Johnson’s said, “She taught me how to love, care, and be humble. She was a great girl and I miss her very much.”

During the course of the investigation, it was determined that Mills had been consuming alcoholic beverages at various establishments in the Harbison area of Columbia earlier that night, according to the Eleventh Circuit Solicitor’s Office. Only days before the collision, Mills attended a benefit function for the victim of a previous alcohol related traffic fatality.

Four Midlands restaurants and bars are being sued by Bruce Johnson, Olivia’s father, for allegedly serving alcohol to Mills.

“The defendants ... could have likely prevented the decedent’s death by calling a (cab) for Mills or otherwise ensuring that she did not drive an automobile from their premises,” the lawsuit said.

This story was originally published November 20, 2017 at 12:21 AM.