ORANGEBURG COUNTY, S.C. — The driver of a vehicle involved in a crash that took the lives of a South Carolina State University student and a recent graduate of the school is now facing multiple charges, including DUI.
The South Carolina Highway Patrol said late Tuesday afternoon that they'd filed the counts against 23-year-old Fuquan Mekhi Hills. He's charged with two counts of felony DUI involving death, one count of felony DUI involving great bodily injury, and two counts of failure to stop for a blue light resulting in death, among other charges.
The crash took place around 1 a.m. on February 25 in Orangeburg County and left Zeleria Simpson of Charleston and Shemyia T. Riley of Greenville dead. Riley was a student at the school while Simpson had already graduated.
A news release issued last week by South Carolina State had identified Hills as a student at the school and that he'd been injured in the wreck. Two other students were also hurt.
Troopers say Hills was driving a car that a trooper saw speeding on the U.S. Highway 21 Bypass. Officers say the driver didn't pull over when they attempted a stop.
The pursuit eventually ended, troopers say, when the car Hills was driving crashed into another vehicle at South Carolina Highway 33 and South Carolina Highway 178.
The Orangeburg County Sheriff's Office said Simpson and Riley were each in separate vehicles.
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Because this involved a pursuit with one of their officers, the South Carolina Highway Patrol asked the Lexington County Sheriff's Department to investigate the crash itself, not the pursuit. That probe continues.
Simpson had been a guard for the Bulldogs women's basketball team before her graduation last May. She earned degrees in criminal justice and law enforcement administration. Riley was a junior who was majoring in social work and had recently been named a 2022 Shining Star by the university foundation.
On Tuesday night, a vigil was held on SC State's campus for the students who died and those who were hurt.