SC Troopers discusses crash investigation on day 2 of trial for former Charleston County deputy charged in deadly Mother’s Day crash

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – The second day of trial for a former Charleston County deputy charged in a deadly Mother’s Day crash heard testimony from South Carolina troopers.

Emily Pellitier is facing three counts of reckless homicide after crashing her cruiser into a vehicle on Highway 17, killing a woman and her two daughters in May 2022.

The day was primarily focused on the technicalities of the investigation.

A forensic pathologist who handled the autopsies took the stand, and one by one, she went into painstaking detail about the many injuries each of the women sustained during the crash.

She testified that the cause of death was total body blunt trauma.

Pelletier was responding to a disabled vehicle call when she drove past a stop sign on New Road at roughly 73 mph and slammed into the vehicle carrying Stephanie Dantzler and her daughters, Shanice and Miranda Dantzler-Williams.

Officials have said that Pelletier did not have her lights or sirens activated at the time; however, one of the state troopers who investigated the case stated that Deputy Sax, the first deputy on scene almost immediately after the accident, told him he saw blue lights on Pellitier’s vehicle when he arrived, but did not hear any sirens.

“He immediately went to his car and headed to the collision. When he arrived there, he said the blue lights were still on. He opened the door and started to check on Deputy Pelletier. A witness that was there told Sax there was another vehicle she hit; he observed taillights from another vehicle on the other side of the trees. When he checked on the other vehicle, he only saw two occupants, and both were deceased. I asked Deputy Sax if he saw Deputy Pelletier’s lights or if he heard siren … he said he saw lights and he did not hear siren,” the trooper testified.

Trooper Jessea James, an accident reconstruction specialist with the SC Highway Patrol, also testified about the cause of the crash, saying: “The cause of this crash is due to failure to stop at a stop sign while going 73 mph in a 45 mph zone.”

When asked about the trial, Former Charleston County Sheriff Kristin Graziano told News 2 that the night of the crash was the worst night of her career and wants to see the facts laid out for what they are in this case.

The trial is expected to continue through the rest of the week.