Woman jailed after deadly Myrtle Beach crash

A 58-year-old woman was charged with driving under the influence after a 22-year-old Myrtle Beach woman died at the scene of a crash Sunday night, police said.

Patricia Mary Hale is charged with driving under the influence resulting in death and felony driving under influence resulting in great bodily injury, according to Myrtle Beach Jail records.

Horry County Deputy Coroner Darris Fowler said Samantha Herzig of the Myrtle Beach area was a passenger in a vehicle involved in the crash. Herzig died at the scene from blunt-force trauma.

Herzig was a nursing student at Horry-Georgetown Technical College, according to her Facebook page.

Her fiance “was also severely injured and is recovering in a medical induced coma,” according to a GoFundMe page, created to help raise money for the family to cover funeral expenses.

Police were called to the area of U.S. 17 Bypass and Pine Island Road on Sunday night where they discovered Hale, who was driving a Honda, was involved in a crash with the occupants of a Ford Focus, according to an arrest warrant.

Hale disregarded a traffic signal, which police said caused the crash, the warrant states.

During an interview with Hale, authorities said they had probable cause to believe Hale’s abilities to drive were “materially and appreciably” impaired at the time of the crash, so she was charged with felony DUI, the warrant says.

Hale is being held at the Myrtle Beach Jail where her bond had not been set as of Tuesday night, records show.

This story was originally published October 25, 2016 at 1:41 PM with the headline "Woman jailed after deadly Myrtle Beach crash."