Driver found guilty of hit-and-run after killing a pedestrian in Beaufort County
A 41-year-old Ridgeland man was found guilty of driving away from the scene after fatally hitting a woman who was walking in the Shell Point area nearly six years ago, prosecutors said.
A Beaufort County jury on Thursday found Clinton Lee Anthony Brown guilty of hit-and-run resulting in death after his pickup truck struck and killed 55-year-old Beaufort resident Redeidre Holmes the night of Aug. 22, 2020, according to a press release from the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office.
Brown was sentenced to eight years in prison followed by three years of probation and will be required to pay a $10,000 fine, Beaufort County judicial records show. If he violates court conditions, Brown could face a full 12-year prison term and a $25,000 fine.
What happened in the crash?
Minutes before the defendant fatally struck Holmes, both were at a party at a Shell Point home on Cleveland Drive where Brown’s girlfriend lived. A fight involving Brown broke out, which prompted Holmes to walk away from the party, the solicitor’s office said. Brown left shortly after in his burgundy Dodge Ram pickup truck. The collision happened on the same road around 8:25 p.m. and launched Holmes nearly 40 feet forward “into a shallow ditch parallel to the street,” according to the press release.
Brown exited his truck after the crash but left without calling for help, prosecutors argued. He later told investigators he knew he hit something, possibly a mailbox, the solicitor’s office said.
Returning to the scene with his stepfather about 45 minutes later, Brown found Holmes “face-down” in the roadside ditch, the press release says. First responders administered CPR before she was taken to Beaufort Memorial Hospital, where she was pronounced dead on arrival.
Investigation into the crash and the trial
Specialized collision investigators with the South Carolina Highway Patrol determined Brown was driving 23 to 28 mph in the 20 mph zone on Cleveland Drive, according to the release. Prosecutors said he was also driving without a license.
“Redeidre Holmes lost her life because of a series of reckless choices by this defendant,” Jared Shedd of the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office, who prosecuted the case, was quoted saying in the press release. “Had Mr. Brown summoned helped immediately, Ms. Holmes might still be with us. We are grateful the jury carefully considered the evidence and delivered justice.”
Shedd called 16 witnesses, including state troopers, a toxicologist from the S.C. Law Enforcement Division and officers from the Port Royal Police Department and Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office during two days of testimony at the Beaufort County Courthouse, the solicitor’s office said.
Brown was also accused of driving under the influence resulting in death following his arrest in early September 2020, but the charge was dismissed Thursday because the jury could not reach a verdict on the indictment, according to the solicitor’s press release.
Circuit Court Judge Carmen T. Mullen handed down Brown’s sentence.
As of Friday morning, Brown did not yet appear in an online database of inmates at the S.C. Department of Corrections.
