PELION, S.C. — A Lexington County man has been convicted of reckless vehicular homicide for the death of an 81-year-old Pelion woman, officials announced on Thursday.
According to the office of 11th Judicial Circuit Solicitor Rick Hubbard, 36-year-old Bryan Christopher Powers was convicted this week for the death of Mildred Smith, who was just days from her 82nd birthday.
The crash happened on June 14, 2019, just before 6 p.m. the office stated. A portion of U.S. 178 near Fogle Road was being repaved and that also meant that traffic had to occasionally be stopped.
The solicitor's office said that two-vehicle had been stopped by a flagman when Powers, driving a white Chevrolet Silverado, slammed into the rear of another vehicle that Smith was riding in. A rear-seat passenger in the vehicle, Smith died of blunt force trauma at the scene.
"Powers’ actions were in reckless disregard for the safety of others on our roadway that day," Senior Assistant Solicitor Todd Wagoner stated in a media release. "Sadly, Mildred Smith paid the ultimate price for his indifference to the consequences of his actions.”
The solicitor's office said that a flagman who testified said that Powers never slowed down. A highway patrol investigation, meanwhile, found that he had been going 63 mph when he hit the truck the elderly woman was riding in. The same investigation also found that there were no skid marks from Powers' vehicle.
Powers, who had a previous criminal history tied to marijuana possession, burglary, and domestic violence, was sentenced to eight years in prison for the latest conviction - only two years below the maximum allowed.