Man faces murder, kidnapping charge after deadly wreck

An Alabama man was charged with murder and kidnapping after a female passenger - he was reportedly holding against her will - died from injuries sustained in a wreck on S.C. 22 last week.

Twenty-year-old Justin Penn, of Montgomery, is being held without bond after being charged on Thursday, according to online jail records.

Penn was the driver of the silver Honda Accord with Alabama tags involved in the S.C. 22 wreck that occurred on Tuesday, May 16, according to an Horry County incident report.

Police released a report on May 18 regarding a connection between the wreck and the kidnapping of a woman being held against her will in a Honda.

The Honda from the reported kidnapping incident was involved in the wreck, according to the report.

Police noted that the Honda was damaged extensively and items were on the roadway that appeared to be thrown from the vehicle, the report says.

Both Penn and 19-year-old Shemeria Smith were transported to Grand Strand Medical Center with critical injuries, police say.

Smith was the passenger in the Honda, and died in the hospital the morning after the wreck, according to an email sent by Tamara Willard, chief deputy coroner of Horry County.

Smith had recently moved to Myrtle Beach from Alabama, Willard said.

Smith died of multiple traumatic injuries sustained in the wreck, she added. Her manner of death has been listed as a homicide.

This story was originally published May 22, 2017 at 4:22 PM with the headline "Man faces murder, kidnapping charge after deadly wreck."