CHESTER -- An 18-year-old Fort Lawn man was killed in a Chester County car wreck Sunday as he drove home from work, authorities and the man's aunt said.
Dominique Jeter of 6121 Hightower Road died from head and chest injuries sustained during the crash, said Chester County Coroner Terry Tinker.
The accident happened at 5:55 p.m. on U.S. 21 near Westbrook Road about seven miles north of Fort Lawn, said Lance Cpl. Josef Robinson of the S.C. Highway Patrol.
Jeter was driving south in a 1996 Honda Accord when he drove off the right side of the road, overcorrected to the left, then jerked back to the right, Robinson said.
The car went off the right side of the road, flipped and threw Jeter from the vehicle, Robinson said.
Jeter, who wasn't wearing a seat belt, struck several small trees and died at the scene, Robinson said.
Aunt said tire blew
Although troopers say they don't know why Jeter's car initially went off the road, his aunt, Bernadette Canty, said her nephew's car blew a tire as he was returning from his job at Northern Tool & Equipment in Fort Mill.
She said Jeter had just started working at the company. He recently graduated from an Atlanta high school.
"He was just an upbeat person," Canty said. "He loved people. ... He always liked to make people laugh."
Jeter was the youngest of four children, Canty said. He enjoyed playing basketball with his older brothers and playing video games on a Sony PlayStation.
Canty said Jeter's family lives in Fort Lawn, and they're looking to each other for support.
Through Sunday, 446 people with access to seat belts had died on the state's highways this year, according to the Highway Patrol's Web site.
Of those people, 262 were not wearing a seat belt.
