Prosecutor disputes SC woman’s claim she hit deer, not biker in York County crash
.jpg "Kailey Carpenter left with her lawyer Dayne Phillips in York County, S.C. court on July 2, 2025. Carpenter is charged in a fatal hit and run.")
A South Carolina Judge ruled Wednesday that York County prosecutors could move forward with the case against a driver accused of hitting a Clover man with a bicycle in June and failing to stop.
However, the lawyer for Kailey Carpenter, 25, continues to say that she thought she hit a deer in the collision on June 8 on S.C. 55 where Anthony Raheem Parker, 31, died.
Prosecutor Matthew Shelton argued in York County Criminal Court a collision with a man on a bike or a deer are two different things. “It is not reasonable to believe she did not see what she hit. It hit her windshield, she can’t just plug her ears and close her eyes and think ‘oh I hit a deer.’ The evidence supports that the man’s body hit her front windshield.”
Carpenter has pleaded not guilty.
York County Magistrate Judge Walter Beck found probable cause for South Carolina Highway Patrol troopers to arrest Carpenter.
Trooper Elizabeth Bryant testified debris from the crash matched damage to Carpenter’s Jeep Cherokee.
Testimony on Wednesday showed that Carpenter did not report the collision to police. Carpenter turned herself in five days later after she was contacted by police about the fatal hit and run.
Defense; Carpenter didn’t know she hit a person
Carpenter was in court Wednesday but did not speak. Several members of her family filled one side of the courtroom in her support.
Her lawyer, Dayne Phillips of Columbia, argued that prosecutors have not shown evidence that Carpenter knew she hit a person and not a deer. Carpenter made no attempt to evade what happened that night, Phillips said. The crash happened west of Lake Wylie south of the North Carolina state line.
She thought she hit a deer that night in a rural, dark area, where it is common for drivers to hit deer, Phillips said.
Phillips claimed that the law requires a driver must stop and report if she knew she hit a person, but not an animal.
Prosecutor: No deer carcass or hair
Members of Parker’s family cried during the testimony of how he was hit and died at the scene. Parker’s mother and father declined to comment about their son’s death after court on Wednesday.
Shelton, the prosecutor, argued that investigators found no deer carcass or deer hair on her vehicle. The offense is that she did not stop after the crash.
“That’s the crime here — she didn’t stop and didn’t stay,” said Shelton.
What happens next ?
Carpenter has been free on $75,000 bail since her arrest last month.
With the judge’s ruling Wednesday, prosecutors can now seek an indictment from a grand jury. An indictment is required to take a case to trial.
No trial date has been set.
This story was originally published July 3, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
