Bluffton man sentenced in Beaufort County DUI crash that killed child, stepmother in 2019
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A Bluffton man on Friday was sentenced to 18 years in prison after he was convicted of drunk driving in an accident that killed a 7-year-old boy and his stepmother in 2019.
James Bush Jr., 47, pleaded guilty in July 2021 to two counts of driving under the influence resulting in death, according to a 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office report. Circuit Court Judge Carmen T. Mullen also handed down 10-year sentences for two counts of reckless vehicular homicide and three years for failure to stop for a blue light. Bush will serve the sentences concurrently.
Caleb Brown, 7, and Ronda Lashawn Brown, 48, were killed after Bush ran through a traffic signal near the Broad River bridge in Port Royal on July 7, 2019. The crash happened around 9:30 p.m. at the intersection of S.C. 170 and Savannah Highway, according to previous Island Packet reporting.
Prior to the crash, Bush led a deputy on a high-speed chase after he failed to stop to be pulled over for an improper right turn on red.
Bush then ran a red light at the intersection of Robert Smalls Parkway and Savannah Highway, near the northern end of the Broad River Bridge. He crashed into Ronda Brown’s Nissan Maxima, causing it to flip and burst into flames, a news release said. Ronda Brown was pronounced dead at the scene, and Caleb, her stepson, was taken to the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston where he later died.
Bush was the only occupant in his Mercury Sable.
According to previous reporting, a Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office report said a deputy smelled “the odor of consumed alcohol emitting” from Bush, and noted his speech was slurred and his eyes were bloodshot and “extremely” glossy.
Bush was taken to Beaufort Memorial Hospital where his blood was found to have an alcohol content of .13, according to the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office report. Driving with a blood alcohol content greater than .08 is illegal in South Carolina.
