Widow robbed of husband, best friend by prison-bound Lexington woman, prosecutor says
A Lexington woman is going to prison for more than a decade after pleading guilty to driving under the influence during a deadly crash in 2018, the 11th Circuit Solicitor’s Office said Tuesday.
After pleading guilty in December 2020 to felony DUI involving death, Lauren Michelle Dangerfield, 33, was sentenced last week to 12 years behind bars, the solicitor’s office said in a news release.
The sentencing hearing, presided over by Circuit Court Judge Debra McCaslin, was delayed because of the COVID-19 related court closures, according to the release.
On the morning of July 13, 2018, Dangerfield traveled left of center on Nazareth Road in the Red Bank area of Lexington County and collided head-on with a vehicle driven by Brian Orazen, the solicitor’s office said.
The 45-year-old Orazen, who was wearing a seat belt while driving to work, died at the scene, according to Lexington County Coroner Margaret Fisher.
Witnesses told investigators that Dangerfield’s vehicle crossed the center line several times prior to the crash, and that Dangerfield appeared “out of it,” according to the release.
A South Carolina Highway Patrol trooper said Dangerfield’s speech was slurred and that she had difficulties keeping her eyes open, the solicitor’s office said.
Dangerfield admitted to the trooper that she used drugs the night before, and a blood test administered by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division showed she had methamphetamine, cocaine, and three benzodiazepines in her system, according to the release.
During sentencing, Orazen’s widow, Stacy Orazen, said she has not had a “moment of peace” since the collision, the solicitor’s office said.
Echoing that, 11th Circuit Assistant Solicitor Todd Wagoner said, “Dangerfield made a decision to get behind the wheel while under the influence of drugs, which ultimately robbed Stacy Orazen of her husband, her best friend, and of her opportunity to begin a family here in Lexington.”
“These terrible situations are made even more tragic when you consider how preventable they are,” Wagoner said.
The charge Dangerfield pleaded guilty to is considered as a serious, no parole crime, according to South Carolina law, and she could have been sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Dangerfield has prior convictions for possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, and several speeding offenses, Lexington County court records show.
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