Trial gets underway for former Charleston County deputy charged in deadly Mother’s Day crash

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – Opening statements and witness testimony made up the first day of trial for a former Charleston County deputy charged with three counts of reckless homicide.

The prosecutor said the defendant, Emily Pelletier, was grossly speeding – traveling more than 85 mph at times and more than 70 mph when she entered the intersection and crashed into the victims’ vehicle.

Pelletier’s attorney said this was a “sequence of events horribly perfect for an accident,” which took place on Mother’s Day in 2022.

The former deputy drove past a stop sign at the intersection of New Road and Highway 17 at about 73 mph and slammed into the vehicle carrying Stephanie Dantzler and her daughters, Shanice and Miranda Dantzler-Williams. All three died at the scene.

Pellitier was responding to a disabled vehicle call at the time. Her lights and siren were not activated.

During the trial, the woman who was broken down in the middle of the lane on Highway 17 told the courtroom that she was in a dangerous area and called 911 three times, saying cars and semis were barely missing her.

Attorneys recounted her conversation with dispatchers, saying: “…and you said I’m in a really dangerous spot. Just wondering when the police are gonna get here. And then they asked has anything changed and your response was nothing has changed,” attorneys asked the witness.” Cars and semis are barely missing me. I’m so scared right now. Something bad is going to happen.”

The witness, Patricia Digeronimo, said the comments were accurate.

One of the Charleston County sheriff’s deputies who responded to the deadly crash also testified and said he was traveling up to 100 mph to respond to the accident; however, he said he did not go as fast as 70 mph through any intersections.

Footage from the body camera the deputy was wearing the night of the crash was also played in court. In that video, you can hear another member of law enforcement saying that Pelletier said she didn’t see the stop sign.

That could be crucial information as, throughout proceedings, they discussed how dark that portion of New Road and even Savannah Highway is at night. There was also testimony that the night of the accident was Pellitier’s first time driving down the road.

Former Charleston County Sheriff Kristian Graziano was also in court to watch the proceedings. The trial is expected to last all week.