Pedestrian killed on Beaufort-area highway over July 4 weekend, officials say
A woman walking along a Beaufort-area highway was struck and killed by two passing cars just after midnight Saturday, according to the South Carolina Highway Patrol.
Beaufort County coroner’s staff identified the woman as 35-year-old Beaufort resident Rhonda Randall. She was pronounced dead minutes after the crash.
The fatal collision happened around 12:05 a.m. Saturday at the collision of U.S. 21 (Parris Island Gateway) and Broad River Boulevard, about a half-mile south of Trask Parkway.
Cpl. David Jones of the SCHP said the pedestrian was struck “in the roadway” by two cars: a 2005 Dodge SUV and a 2011 Jeep SUV. Neither of the two drivers was injured.
SCHP is investigating the circumstances of Saturday’s deadly crash.
It was one of two traffic fatalities in the immediate area over the July 4 holiday weekend. SCHP troopers also said a bicyclist was struck and killed sometime Sunday by an unknown vehicle that fled the scene. Investigators were attempting to identify a hit-and-run suspect as of Monday morning.
U.S. 21 consistently ranks among the most dangerous roadways in Beaufort County based on collision numbers, according to data from the S.C. Department of Public Safety.
The weekend’s incidents marked the ninth and 10th known traffic fatalities in Beaufort County so far this year. In 2024, a total of 26 people were killed in traffic-related incidents across the county, five of whom were pedestrians.
Beaufort County traffic deaths so far in 2025
Feb. 1: A 10-year-old boy was struck and killed by a pickup truck while riding his bike in a Bluffton-area neighborhood.
Feb. 8: The driver of a Mini Cooper was killed after the car collided with a tree and caught fire off U.S. 278 on Hilton Head Island.
Feb 10: A motorcyclist died in a collision with a tree on Trask Parkway.
March 19: A Varnville resident was killed after his pickup truck flipped and struck a tree in northern Beaufort County.
April 27: A pedestrian was believed to be fatally struck by two vehicles that fled the scene near the Broad River Bridge. SCHP troopers asked for the public’s help in identifying the suspect drivers.
May 19: A Beaufort man was killed and three others were hospitalized after a six-vehicle pileup on Bluffton’s U.S. 278 near the entrance to Rose Hill Plantation.
June 7: A two-vehicle collision on S.C. 170 killed a driver from Hinesville, Georgia, and sent three of her passengers to the hospital.
June 12: A motorcyclist died at the hospital after his bike ran off the highway near the Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort.
July 6: A bicyclist was killed in a hit-and-run at an unknown time on U.S. 21. SCHP troopers were attempting to learn the make and model of the suspect vehicle and the driver’s identity.
This report will be updated.
This story was originally published July 7, 2025 at 4:53 PM.
