Former Charleston County Deputy Emily Pelletier found guilty in fatal 2022 crash

(WCIV) — Former Charleston County Deputy Emily Pelletier was found guilty Monday to three charges of reckless homicide after standing trial for a 2022 Mother’s Day Collision that killed three people.

Each count of reckless homicide carries up to 10 years of prison time. Pelletier was sentenced to five years in prison, suspended to three years on all three charges, but will serve them concurrently with two years’ probation.

“One year in prison,” Pastor Thomas Dixon said. “That’s unconscionable.”

This ruling comes after Pelletier took the stand Friday, describing her actions on the night of the crash that resulted in the deaths of Stephanie Dantzler and her two daughters, 28-year-old Shanice and 22-year-old Miranda, at the intersection of New Road and Savannah Highway.

“We really don’t accept it, because it was going on three years and that the first time we heard her apologize, and only because she was in the court,” Darin Dantzler said. “Wo no, and then if she really met what she said or really apologized, she wouldn’t have us going up here all week. Last week, she wouldn’t have been taking up a cheat sheet. Every day she felt she didn’t do no wrong.”

The jury took around two hours before reaching a decision. They asked for exhibits related to the speed and path of Pelletier’s vehicles before they announced a final verdict. The decision marks the end of a one-week trial, forcing everyone involved to move on from what is an unthinkable tragedy.

“This shouldn’t have happened the way it did,” Eric Dantzler said. “You know when we heard behind it, you know we hurt behind it, you know, we say yeah so she could be back to see her family, but we still go to the grave to see ours.”