Charlotte man drove almost 100 mph on I-77 in SC when crash killed NC boy, prosecutor says
A Charlotte man driving almost 100 mph never hit the brakes in 2022 when his car struck an SUV on Interstate 77 in South Carolina, leaving a 7-year-old boy dead and the boy’s father injured, prosecutors said in court Monday.
Jason Connell Palmer, 37, is on trial in Chester County on charges of reckless homicide, assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, and possession of crack cocaine and marijuana. He faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted of reckless homicide and assault.
The trial started Monday. Palmer has pleaded not guilty.
Max Shanks of Matthews, N.C. died in the July 10, 2022 crash after the family SUV struck trees. His father, Corey, suffered a traumatic brain injury, prosecutor Candice Lively said. Jessica Shanks, Max’s mother, was driving at the time and his younger brother was also in the SUV.
The police investigation showed Palmer was driving a van 98 mph at the time of the collision, Lively told jurors in her opening statement. The Shanks were on the way home to North Carolina when the crash happened on I-77 north around 5 p.m. on a Sunday afternoon. The speed limit where the crash happened south of Rock Hill is 70 MPH.
Palmer drove, “like a storm that was going to take out anything in his path,” Lively said. “Is it reasonable to be driving 98 miles an hour? Absolutely not.”
Defense: Police rushed to judgment
Palmer has been in jail without bail since his arrest after the crash.
Originally, S.C. Highway Patrol troopers charged him with felony DUI. But later lab results showed he was not under the influence, Palmer’s lawyer, public defender William Frick, said in court Monday.
Frick, told the jury in opening statements police rushed to “knee-jerk” judgment in the case and decided that Palmer was responsible for the crash. Max Shanks’ death was “a tragedy,” but drivers speed on I-77 all the time, Frick said.
The trial evidence will show Palmer was not the “proximate cause” of the crash, Frick said.
Several witnesses testified Monday afternoon who said they saw the crash or called 911. The trial resumes Tuesday and could last several days.
