Teen’s DUI charges from deadly crash dropped after blood test results, SC prosecutor says
A South Carolina teen who was accused of DUI following a May crash that killed a friend had the charges dismissed following a blood test, the prosecutor said.
On Tuesday, 13th Circuit Solicitor Walt Wilkins said a judge threw out the case, WHNS reported.
It was dismissed because Savannah Hutchinson’s blood tests showed no traces of drugs or alcohol, according to the Greenville News.
The 17-year-old had been charged with felony DUI resulting in death following the May 7 crash that killed Dayton Gayle Sellers, The State reported.
“Today at the preliminary hearing, the judge dismissed the case due to the fact there was no evidence of her impairment,” Wilkins said, according to WHNS. “... Without any evidence of impairment, the judge dismissed the case.”
Hutchinson’s attorney said the teen always denied being drunk or on drugs and was never given a breathalyzer test when investigators questioned her at the hospital, per the Greenville News.
Wilkins could not explain why Hutchinson was charged with DUI but said “investigators believed they smelled alcohol at some point,” the newspaper reported.
Sellers, 18, died at the scene of the Greenville County crash, according to The State. Highway Patrol said neither she nor Hutchinson, or the vehicle’s third passenger, were wearing seat belts when the Kia sedan ran off the road and down an embankment, where it rolled over before crashing, per The State.
Sellers was “partially ejected” from the car and suffered multiple blunt force trauma, according to a news release from the Greenville County Coroner’s Office, which called the death an accident.
Both Hutchinson and the other 18-year-old passenger were treated for injuries at an area hospital before being released, WYFF reported.
According to her mother, Sellers was “a ‘country lady,’ a young woman who never met a stranger and generously gave of her time to others. She was the salt of the Earth with a smile that would light up the room,” her obituary said.
Wilkins said it is possible Hutchinson could still be charged with reckless driving, according to WHNS.
