South Carolina man killed in fiery crash identified by Lexington County coroner
One person was killed and another was injured Wednesday night when a pickup truck crashed and caught on fire, according to the South Carolina Highway Patrol.
James Michael Carter, a 46-year-old Lexington resident, died in what Lexington County Coroner Margaret Fisher called an accident.
The single-vehicle collision happened at about 6:50 p.m., in Lexington County, said Master Trooper Mitchell Ridgeway.
A 2009 Chevrolet pickup was driving east on Founders Road, according to Ridgeway. Near the intersection with Founders Boulevard, in the Pelion area, the Chevy ran off the road where it hit multiple trees and flipped over before going up in flames, Ridgeway said.
A passenger in the Chevy, later identified as Carter, died at the scene, according to Ridgeway.
The pickup driver was hurt and taken to Prisma Health Richland hospital in Columbia, Ridgeway said. Fisher said the driver suffered non-life-threatening injuries, but further information on the driver’s condition was not available.
No other injuries were reported.
There was no word if either the driver or passenger were wearing seat belts.
Information about what caused the Chevy to veer off the road was not available, but the crash continues to be investigated by the Highway Patrol and the coroner’s office.
Through Sunday, 251 people had died on South Carolina roads in 2025, according to the state Department of Public Safety. Last year, at least 948 people died in crashes in South Carolina, DPS reported.
At least 13 people have died in Lexington County crashes in 2025, according to DPS data. There were 50 deaths in the county in 2024, DPS reported.
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This story was originally published May 1, 2025 at 8:24 AM.
