Chester mom’s pain, driver’s remorse over boy hero’s death plays out in courtroom

Eleven-year-old La’Darious Wylie captured people’s hearts when he died a hero in October 2015. La’Darious pushed his younger sister from the path of an oncoming car in Chester. He was hit and killed by that car.

The kids were waiting for the school bus.

LaDarious was called a hero by the S.C. General Assembly, Chester County and Chester city officials, and people across the nation.

On Thursday, Michelle Johnson, the driver who hit LaDarious, received probation, 21 months after pleading guilty to felony hit and run resulting in death. Johnson, 59, also of Chester, faced a five-year prison sentence that was suspended. She could have received as much as 25 years.

La’Darious’ mother, Liz McCrorey, and other family members rushed from the courthouse Thursday after the sentence. They were upset that Johnson did not get jail time. McCrorey said she was too upset to comment, and other family members also said they were frustrated.

In court, McCrorey wore a T-shirt with her son’s pictures on it. She had stated to Johnson: “I don’t hate you, but you didn’t stop. I don’t judge you, that’s for God to decide. ... (La’Darious) had dreams. ... Now I have to wear him on my shirt.”

Johnson claimed she thought she hit a deer. After the crash, she went on to drop off her grandchildren at school, testimony showed Thursday. She was arrested two days after the crash.

Carlos Wylie, La’Darious’ father, told Judge Dan Hall in court that he did not believe Johnson’s claim that she thought she hit a deer. After court, Carlos Wylie questioned how Johnson could leave the courthouse with probation.

“She should have gotten at least five years, community service, something,” Wylie said. “My son was a hero. My son saved his sister that day.”

The sister he saved, 9-year-old Sha’Vonta, sat next to her parents in court. She wore a T-shirt with her brother’s picture on it. The shirt had pictures of her brother as a baby, and a picture taken days before he died.

“My hero,” Sha’Vonta said of La’Darious, after court.

A five-year prison sentence was suspended by Judge Hall, who said in court that sending Johnson to prison was no benefit to the state or the family. Johnson had no criminal record and there was no allegation she hit La’Darious on purpose.

Johnson cried during much of the 90-minute court hearing in Lancaster, wiping tears with a towel. She spoke briefly before sentencing, saying: “To the McCrorey and Wylie families, I am so, so sorry. I wanted to tell you for a long time. I cry myself to sleep every night. Forgive me. I am trying to forgive myself.”

Johnson’s lawyer, 6th Circuit Public Defender Mike Lifsey, told Hall that Johnson “made a mistake by not stopping.” Johnson, whose daughter and grandchild were killed in a car crash 16 years ago, Lifsey said, “will live with the crash” the rest of her life, but should not go to prison.

Johnson was charged with a crime because she did not stop after the crash to render aid, as S.C. law requires, said Deanene Thornwell, an assistant S.C. Attorney General prosecuting the case. Thornwell said in court that La’Darious’ family believed Johnson should receive time in prison for failing to stop, help or call police.

“If Mrs. Johnson had stopped, we would not be here today in court,” Thornwell said.

Other children who witnessed the crash rushed to adults who called 911 for help. La’Darious was airlifted by helicopter to a Charlotte hospital, but he died the next day.

In the weeks after The Herald reported that La’Darious saved his sister, he was hailed as a hero across the country on national radio shows, in media such as Huffington Post and People magazine, and worldwide on social media. There were plans to name a park in Chester after him, although those plans failed .

“La’Darious Wylie, an 11-year-old child in Chester, South Carolina, showed every person in America what it means to be hero,” said Michael Halsey, a Chester community activist who led the charge to honor La’Darious over the past two years. Halsey is still working on ways for Chester to honor him.

Several pastors and members of Johnson’s family told La’Darious’ family how sorry they were, and that Johnson’s actions in 2015 were out of character for a life lived without even a traffic ticket.

Johnson declined to comment as she left the courthouse parking lot.

Carlos Wylie said: “My son died a hero, but he is gone. He didn’t get a chance to grow up.”

This story was originally published July 20, 2017 at 5:29 PM with the headline "Chester mom’s pain, driver’s remorse over boy hero’s death plays out in courtroom."