Clover woman gets 4 years prison in DUI crash that killed friend

A Clover woman pleaded guilty Wednesday to felony DUI in the March crash that killed a friend, who was a passenger in the van she was driving.

Laura Beth Sanders, 32, was sentenced by Circuit Court Judge Dan Hall to four years in prison and two years’ probation following prison, according to Deputy 16th Circuit Solicitor Willy Thompson. If she violates probation, she must return to prison for six years.

Sanders was driving the Kia Sedona minivan that crashed March 25 on S.C. 5, about five miles from York. Her passenger, Alexander Bissett McConnell, 48, of Clover, died at the scene.

Thompson said Sanders was “speeding excessively” in the left lane when she, “for whatever reason,” jerked the wheel to the right. This caused the van to slide across the roadway and hit a ditch, which Thompson said “catapulted” the vehicle into the air.

Witnesses said the van flipped three or four times in the air before striking an embankment. Thompson said the van’s estimated speed when it struck the embankment was 69 mph.

Before the deadly crash, McConnell had stolen some money out of a car at a gas station, jumped into the van and told Sanders to drive, Thompson said. He allegedly pushed down her leg with his hand to get her to drive faster.

Blood was drawn from Sanders at the hospital right after the crash, and her blood-alcohol content was .198 percent, Thompson said. Three hours later, blood was drawn for the S.C. Highway Patrol to test, and it measured .145 percent.

“She had barbiturates in her system, which would have compounded her intoxication from the alcohol,” Thompson said.

Neither Sanders nor McConnell was wearing a seat belt.

“The wreck was rather violent,” Thompson said. “The victim in the case basically died from blunt force trauma to the head, neck and chest. He had severe injuries all over.”

Thompson said Sanders had little in the way of a prior record, but her license was suspended at the time of the crash for failure to pay traffic tickets.

“If she had obeyed the law in that small area, then this accident wouldn’t have happened that day,” he said. “She went in and took responsibility for it today. That was appropriate on her part.”

This story was originally published October 28, 2015 at 9:23 PM with the headline "Clover woman gets 4 years prison in DUI crash that killed friend."