Hilton Head teen faces reckless homicide charge a month after deadly US 278 crash
A 19 year old was charged with reckless homicide Wednesday after a multiple-vehicle crash early last month on Hilton Head Island left one person dead and five others injured, according to the S.C. Highway Patrol.
Esteban Javier Rosa-Mendez, of Hilton Head, was driving a 2013 Toyota sedan carrying four other people on Gumtree Road toward U.S. 278 when the crash happened on the night of March 2, Highway Patrol spokesperson Lance Cpl. Matt Southern said.
Rosa-Mendez “disregarded a traffic light” at the intersection and struck a 2011 Mitsubishi on the passenger side. That car was then pushed into a 2014 Hyundai on the eastbound side of U.S. 278, according to previous reporting.
The driver of the Mitsubishi, 22-year-old Colton Tanner Poirot, of Hilton Head, was pronounced dead at the scene, Beaufort County chief deputy coroner David Ott previously said.
All five people in the Toyota were transported to the hospital with injuries, none of which appeared to be life threatening. The Mitsubishi and Hyundai drivers were wearing seat belts, but no one in the Toyota was.
Hours after the crash, Rosa-Mendez was initially arrested for driving under suspension. Following an investigation, which is still ongoing, he was arrested again Wednesday on the new charge of reckless homicide and booked into the Beaufort County Detention Center. He has yet to have a bond hearing, Southern said.
This crash was the second death in two days on U.S. 278 in Beaufort County.
This story was originally published April 8, 2020 at 4:33 PM.
