Three killed in a street racing crash, but SC judge throws out charges against SC man
A judge ended the trial of a South Carolina man charged in the traffic deaths of three people before a jury could decide the case, prosecutors said.
Ninth Circuit Solicitor Scarlett Wilson said Lawrence Maurice Ravenel and his cousin were racing in separate cars at about 100 mph on Charleston-area roads before causing a crash that killed the cousin. The crash also involved a city bus and a third car, and two people in the third car were killed.
Four minors in the third car were injured.
But before the trial could be sent to the jury for deliberation on Dec. 3, Judge Bentley Price dismissed the charges against Ravenel, 49, of Ladson, Wilson said in a news release.
After two days of testimony, the judge said there was no evidence to show Ravenel was guilty of the racing, reckless homicide, and hit-and-run charges, according to the release.
The solicitor’s news release, which was issued Monday, said prosecutors argued Ravenel was “unquestionably involved in the accident.” The release said “eyewitness testimony and video evidence supported a reasonable conclusion that the two cousins were racing.”
The four-vehicle crash occurred May 13, 2017, according to the release.
Witnesses testified Ravenel and his cousin, Elijah Simmons, were in North Charleston, where they were racing a Nissan Maxima and Chevrolet Camaro, respectively, the prosecutor said.
A witness said the cars sped around her and got into adjacent lanes, where they continued to accelerate, according to the release.
As Ravenel’s Maxima was pulling away, Simmons lost control of the Camaro, Wilson’s office said.
The Chevy slammed into the side of an approaching CARTA bus with passengers, then launched head-on into a Buick sedan behind the bus, according to the release.
The Charleston County Coroner’s Office said the 50-year-old Simmons was killed in the wreck, along with Neil Holmes, 52, and Phyllis Hughes, 51, who were in the Buick, WCSC reported.
No one on the bus was hurt, but four of Hughes’ grandchildren in the Buick were critically injured, Wilson said.
Further information on their condition was not available.
Seconds before the crash, Simmons’ Camaro, which was behind Ravenel’s Maxima, was traveling at 99 mph, according to the car’s black box, the solicitor’s office reported.
Video surveillance shows the cars in adjacent lanes and accelerating less than a quarter mile before the wreck, and North Charleston police said the cars were “neck-and-neck” for nearly a mile before the collision, according to the release.
After the crash, the witness said Ravenel turned around and returned to the wreckage, where he rushed to Simmons, prosecutors said.
Ravenel did not give his personal information or his role in the collision to responding law enforcement, which is required by South Carolina law, Wilson’s office said.
But the judge ruled that there was no evidence Ravenel and Simmons made an agreement to race, just indications that the two cars were speeding by each other, according to the release.
The judge also said because Ravenel was not physically involved in the crash, he was not criminally responsible for the deaths and had no duty to remain at the scene, the solicitor’s office reported.
Because of the judge’s ruling, which came after the prosecution presented its witnesses, the jury never had the opportunity to make a decision, Wilson said.
This is not the first time Ravenel has been charged with a traffic crime.
He was convicted of speeding in 1992, 2000, and 2003; driving too fast for conditions in 2007; having an open container of beer or wine in a vehicle in 2007; and driving under suspension in 2000 among other traffic violations, court records show.
In 1995 and 1996 Ravenel pleaded guilty to possession of crack cocaine, according to court records.
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