“I still love her,’ dad says of SC teen charged in DUI crash that killed his daughter
A S.C. Highway Patrol incident report says Nick Adams was an “extremely intoxicated” passenger in Madison Bagwell’s car when she was charged with impaired driving in 2017, according to television station WYFF.
Now Adams says he has forgiven Bagwell for a crash that killed his daughter on Saturday, when Bagwell was again charged with DUI, the station and others reported.
“People make bad decisions, accidents happen,” Adams told reporters, according to FOX Carolina. “I don’t hate her for it, I still love her.”
Jessica Adams, 17, was killed and three others were injured when a Jeep Cherokee driven by 19-year-old Bagwell overturned late Saturday on U.S. 25 near Travelers Rest, north of Greenville, The State reported. The Greenville County Coroner’s Office confirmed Adams’ identify, FOX Carolina reported.
Other passengers taken to the hospital with injuries were a 13-year-old boy and girl, and a 20-year-old who were in the back seat, according to The State. Adams was the only one not wearing a seat belt, the newspaper reported.
Bagwell was charged with three counts of felony DUI, one count of child endangerment and possession of marijuana, according to The State.
A judge denied Bagwell bond, FOX Carolina reported, because of a previous DUI charge in Pickens County, in November of 2017. A Nov. 7, 2017 highway patrol incident report said a “white male identified as Mr. Nicholas Adams,” was in the vehicle at the time of Bagwell’s arrest, according to WYFF.
On Wednesday, The Greenville News reported that the State Law Enforcement Division had joined the crash investigation.
“We are in the very early stages of looking into whether any criminal violations involving alcohol contributed to the crash,” SLED spokesman Thom Berry said, according to The Greenville News.
This story was originally published October 18, 2018 at 1:29 PM with the headline "“I still love her,’ dad says of SC teen charged in DUI crash that killed his daughter."