‘I have a huge hole in my heart’: Family remembers son killed in car crash

At 44 years old, Jamey P. Stevens had a life filled by his two daughters, a girlfriend, family and friends, his father, James Stevens Jr., said. But on Saturday night, a car wreck along S.C. 9 in Loris took that all away.

“It was just a shock that this happened,” his father said. “I’m going to miss him a lot. I have a huge hole in my heart.”

Jamey Stevens worked as a paralegal at his dad’s firm, Stevens Law Firm in Loris, with both his dad and his sister Natalie. He was an avid sports fan, cheering for the South Carolina Gamecocks and the Washington Redskins.

He left behind a 12-year-old daughter, a one-year-old daughter, a brother and sister, both his parents and his step-mother.

“I just can’t say enough,” James Stevens, Jr. said. “It’s just a great loss. I just told him how great I though he was doing. He was selfless. Whatever he was going through he was always there when you needed him. He would go in a moments notice. I’ve never seen anybody like him. I just wish I could be like him.”

James Stevens, Jr. said that Jamey Stevens was one his way back from visiting his 12-year-old daughter and was going to meet some friends at Cookout when the accident happened.

“He had really been doing great lately,” James Stevens, Jr. said. “I wish to God he could have enjoyed visiting his daughter that day.”

According to Cpl. Sonny Collins with South Carolina Highway Patrol, Jamey Stevens was driving a GMC truck, traveling northbound on S.C. 9 when he tried to make a left turn onto S.C. 348, hitting a GMC sports utility vehicle.

A tweet from Horry County Fire Rescue states that the SUV caught fire in the crash and the two people inside escaped with non life-threatening injuries.

Jamey Stevens, who was not wearing a seat belt, died on scene, Collins said.

And he will be missed by a lot of people, his father said.

“We’re all still trying to process this,” Christopher Wait, a paralegal at Stevens Law Firm, said. “Jamey was one of those people that just could make everybody smile and laugh. Everybody just loved him, so it’s really hard to process losing him.”

James Stevens, Jr. said that people filled the hospital the night of the wreck, there to support Jamey Stevens and his family.

“I couldn’t believe it,” James Stevens, Jr. said. “I’m flabbergasted by the amount of response. He never met a stranger. I’ve been reading the comments on Facebook. I’m just aghast how many friends he had. Everybody loved him.

“If there’s somebody that needed to be written about, it’s him.”

Horry County Coroner Robert Edge confirmed that Stevens was the grandson of the former Horry County state Sen. James P. Stevens.

This story was originally published December 4, 2017 at 4:00 PM with the headline "‘I have a huge hole in my heart’: Family remembers son killed in car crash."