COLLETON COUNTY, SC (WCSC) – Two years have passed by for the Dantzler-Williams family since a deputy-involved wreck on Savannah Highway killed three of their own but they say they are still waiting for justice.
“It’s just like it’s fresh,” matriarch Betty Simmons said at their Colleton County gravesite on Wednesday. “That’s all my girls. That’s a whole family.”
“What kind of justice system do we have?” Eric Dantzler said.
In the early hours of May 8, 2022, the day Mother’s Day fell that year, former Charleston County deputy Emily Pelletier was speeding on New Road without her lights and sirens on before her car collided with another vehicle on Highway 17.
Stephanie Dantzler and her two daughters, Shanice and Miranda Dantzler-Williams were inside the other car. They didn’t survive.
The past couple of years have been marked by immense grief.
“This is one painful hurt,” Darrin Dantzler said. “And nobody knows how we feel.”
Every week, Simmons visits their graves. Every month, she changes the flowers.
“That’s all I can give them right now,” she said.
Pelletier was later terminated and charged with three counts of reckless homicide. She remains out on bond as there is no set trial date.
“She just trying to enjoy her life and it’s unfair,” Darrin said.
“My girls can’t even breathe on this Earth no more,” Simmons said.
They say attempts to get an update on the case through the 9th Circuit Solicitor’s Office have been unsuccessful.
Solicitor Scarlett Wilson has not responded to a request for comment on the case.
“They ain’t saying nothing but anything. And I’m just getting tired of it, it really hurts. From day one, everyone says I’m strong but they don’t know what’s inside. They look on the outside. But it’s really… tough,” Simmons said.
Copyright 2024 WCSC. All rights reserved.
