Three teenage girls dead after Bay Road crash

Three teenage girls are dead after a single-vehicle wreck Thursday morning on Bay Road in the Burgess area of Horry County.

A 14-year-old female from St. James Middle School, a 15-year-old female from St. James High School and a 15-year-old female from Socastee High School died from injuries sustained in the wreck, according to Horry County Deputy Coroner Michelle McSpadden.

The families requested the girls’ names not be released, and the coroner’s office is honoring that request, the deputy coroner said. McSpadden did not clarify when asked by a Sun News reporter if the identities would officially be announced.

By Thursday afternoon, several people had begun to circulate the names of people they thought were among the dead on Facebook.

While the driver in the wreck has not been named, none of the people in the car would have been eligible to drive at the time of the crash without a parent or guardian.

South Carolina law allows 15-year-olds to receive a beginner’s permit to drive. If someone is at least 15 and a half years old and in possession of the permit for 180 days, they can receive a conditional license. Even with the conditional license, drivers must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian if on the roads between midnight and 6 a.m.

The crash happened about 3:15 a.m. on Bay Road near Blue Heron Boulevard and Freewoods Road, according to the South Carolina Highway Patrol.

The driver of the 2006 Toyota pickup truck, who was wearing a seat belt, was headed west on Bay Road when she crossed the center line, said Lance Cpl. Matt Southern with the SCHP.

The driver then ran off the left side of the roadway, struck a ditch, then hit a tree, causing the cab of the truck to break away from the vehicle.

The driver and a passenger died at the scene after getting trapped in the truck. Another passenger was ejected from the truck and also killed, according to Southern.

Jerry Moore, a Burgess community resident, has a home that backs up to Bay Road in a neighborhood near where the incident happened.

The crash made a thunderous noise that rippled through his home, he said.

“It was loud. It actually shook the house a little bit. … We were asleep, but it jarred us awake,” he said of the bang that echoed in the dark.

Moore and his 16-year-old daughter went up a small berm hill with a view of the road, where they surveyed the scene. They heard sirens, and Moore said an eerie stillness enveloped the scene moments before EMS arrived.

“I just assumed at first another car was involved because of the way that pickup truck was so mangled,” he said.

Moore’s daughter went back inside the family’s home, but Moore remained on the scene and saw the coroner arrive.

“Obviously, we’re praying for everybody involved, and I sure hate for it to happen any time, but especially here right near the holidays,” he said.

This story was originally published December 22, 2016 at 5:38 PM with the headline "Three teenage girls dead after Bay Road crash."