St. Helena Island woman sentenced to 6 years on reckless homicide charge

A woman accused of driving the vehicle from which a 19-year-old St. Helena Island teenager fell to his death in 2015 has been sentenced to six years in prison.

Tiera Seabrook, 23, also of St. Helena, was charged with reckless homicide on March 23, 2015. Steven Middleton II died after falling from the truck of the Chevrolet Monte Carlo Seabrook drove from a Lady’s Island night club on Club Road Feb. 14.

Seabrook was sentenced to six years in prison April 11 along with a one-year probation and 100 hours of community service, according to court records. The sentencing took place at the Beaufort County Courthouse.

At the time of Middleton’s death, witnesses told investigators Seabrook was intoxicated and lost control of the vehicle.

Investigators said Seabrook allowed Middleton and other passengers to ride on the trunk as they left the nightclub Kojacks.

Seabrook was driving at a high rate of speed and under the influence of alcohol when Middleton fell, according to the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.

He suffered several severe injuries and was airlifted from Beaufort Memorial Hospital to the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, but died as the result of his injuries just before midnight the same day.

An autopsy revealed Middleton died as a result of head trauma.

This story was originally published April 28, 2016 at 8:43 AM with the headline "St. Helena Island woman sentenced to 6 years on reckless homicide charge."