rss
mobile
Feeds
Sarah Whittelsey, 20, who had recently moved to Hilton Head, was found dead inside a room strewn with needle caps and other drug paraphernalia at the Holiday Inn Oceanfront early on the morning of March 2, 2006. The death was ruled an accidental cocaine overdose.
John Crutchfield, 46, of Hilton Head, who was convicted of cocaine possession from the incident, called for help from the hotel room at 7:20 that morning. He and some friends were staying in a separate room at the hotel.
Mary Whittelsey of Pensacola, Fla., said her daughter was not previously involved with drugs and doesn't believe her daughter was capable of injecting the drug herself. She hired a forensic pathologist, whose report indicated Sarah did not show signs of injections prior to the hotel incident.
In a lawsuit filed last week at the Beaufort County Courthouse, Mary Whittelsey and her attorney contend Crutchfield should be held liable for Sarah's death under South Carolina's Drug Dealer Liability Act, which allows individuals to sue the person who "sold, administered or furnished an illegal controlled substance" to the user.
Crutchfield was charged with possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. He was convicted of possessing about 4 1/2 grams of cocaine and sentenced to 3 years in prison. He is scheduled to be released from a Ridgeland prison next month, after serving about a year.
In his final version of what happened that morning, Crutchfield said he and Sarah Whittelsey had been injecting cocaine together, but they each had their own drugs, according to the Beaufort County sheriff's report.
She began convulsing, but Crutchfield waited to call for help, thinking the convulsions would stop. Whittelsey was dead before medics arrived a few minutes after that phone call, according to reports.
Capt. Bob Bromage, death investigator for the Sheriff's Office, said the case was "thoroughly investigated." In his report, he wrote, "Although it is believed that (Crutchfield) may have played a significant role in the death ... there is insufficient evidence to show that he provided her with the cocaine or intravenous paraphernalia ... ."
If authorities could have proven the cocaine that caused the young woman's death was given to her, the person who gave her the cocaine would have likely faced a charge of manslaughter, said Solicitor Duffie Stone.
"Without that, there was no criminal link to her death," he said.
Attorney John A. Jackson of Charleston said he believes he can win the case in civil court, where only a preponderance of the evidence must suggest a person is liable. In a criminal court, the standard is higher.
Jackson and Mary Whittelsey are seeking an unspecified amount of money.
"What damages do you put on a person's life?" asked Johnson. "What are you owed if your daughter dies? It's hard to put a number on that."
Whittelsey said she wants the truth to come out about her daughter's death.
"My daughter was a beautiful person," she said. "She was like everyone else who's 20. She was trying to find out who she was and where she wanted to go. I don't accept the needle thing. That's something you just don't jump into."
