Teen killed in car crash, and another is charged in her death, SC cops say
UPDATE: On Aug. 27, charges against Savannah Hutchinson were dropped after blood tests taken after the crash showed no traces of drugs or alcohol.
Original Story
One South Carolina teenager is dead and another has been charged with drunken driving following a deadly car crash Tuesday morning, authorities said.
Dayton Gayle Sellers was killed in the wreck, in which the car rolled over before crashing, Greenville County Coroner B. Parks Evans, Jr. said in a news release.
The 18-year-old Donalds resident was pronounced dead at the scene just before 3 a.m., according to the news release.
Neither Sellers nor the driver, Savannah Hutchinson, were wearing seat belts when the Kia sedan wrecked, according to Lance Cpl. Justin Sutherland of the S.C. Highway Patrol.
Sellers was “partially ejected” from the car and suffered multiple blunt force trauma, according to the news release. The coroner said the 18-year-old’s death was an “accident.”
Just weeks ago, Sellers had earned her GED, according to the Greenwood Index-Journal.
“My heart is just broken today, it really is,” Deborah Ayers, director of adult education for Abbeville County School District, told the newspaper.
Hutchinson, 17, was driving the Kia when the car crossed the center line and ran off the left side of the road, traveling down an embankment and overturning, Sutherland said.
The Honea Path resident and another 18-year-old female passenger were taken to an area hospital with unknown injuries after the crash, according to Sutherland. Identified as Kayla Cooley, the other passenger was also not wearing a seat belt, WYFF reported.
Hutchinson was later released and taken into custody at the Greenville County Detention Center, where she was charged with felony DUI resulting in death, jail records show.
Her bond was set at $15,000 and the judge ordered Hutchinson “to avoid driving and to wear an alcohol-detecting ankle monitor,” WHNS reported.
Felony DUI resulting in death carries up to 25 years in prison and a $25,100 fine, under South Carolina law.
Cooley was also released from the hospital Tuesday, according to WHNS.
The deadly crash is being investigated by the S.C. Highway Patrol and the Greenville County Coroner’s Office.
This story was originally published May 7, 2019 at 10:25 AM.
