Myrtle Beach area man sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2013 fatal DUI crash

Despite pleas of remorse from a Myrtle Beach area man and his family, a judge sentenced him on Monday to serve 15 years in prison for driving while drunk, killing a woman and severely injuring her fiancé in a 2013 crash that was caught on camera.

Gabriel Lee Gratto, 30, must serve at least 85 percent of the sentence and will be considered a violent offender after his release, Circuit Court Judge John Hayes said as he sentenced Gratto.

“Words will never help the situation now. I feel so deeply repentance for what I did,” Gratto said before he was sentenced. “My heart goes out to that family.”

Gratto said he continues to have a “heavy weight pulling me down” from the crash and its consequences.

“I know I made the horrible mistake that is on me. I will have to answer to God for that,” Gratto said. “I’m responsible for my actions. I wish there was some type of way I could take it back and give my life for hers.”

Gratto ran from the crash scene after looking in on the dying driver, 56-year-old Joan Errickson of Myrtle Beach. Family members of Errickson, who was two months away from being married, asked for an example to made of Gratto and that he receive the maximum penalty.

“As she lay in the driver’s seat, this man walked over to the driver’s window, looked in and ran,” Jennifer Hague, Errickson’s daughter, said Monday during the hearing. “Use my mom’s death to set an example that South Carolina would not tolerate these things. This time it was my mom, but next time it could be your child, your mom and you would be crying out on your knees for someone not in existence anymore.”

Gratto pleaded guilty Monday to leaving the scene of an accident with death, felony driving under the influence with death and felony DUI with great bodily injury with no negotiations for a sentence, said Brad Richardson who prosecuted the case for the 15th Circuit Solicitor’s Office.

Gratto had faced up to 45 years in prison on the three charges.

“I don’t think there is any sentence that is going to make me feel better. I feel like he’s accepting responsibility for what he’s done. I’m happy with the judge’s sentence,” Hague said after the hearing.

Gratto went golfing with friends on May 15, 2013, where he drank while on the course and continued drinking afterward at a sports bar, Richardson said. He then chose to drive home, a 30-mile trek, and refused to stay at a friend’s house that evening.

Gratto’s 2005 Jeep Wrangler was spotted swerving and driving erratically on S.C. 31 south and two people called authorities to report it, Richardson said. One man told S.C. Highway Patrol dispatchers that Gratto’s Jeep was “all over the road,” and reached speeds up to 90 mph.

The man followed the vehicle, got the license plate number then told dispatchers that the Jeep spun out and ended stopped on an embankment on the side of the road, according to a recording of the telephone call played Monday. The man continued on his way.

But another motorist, who also had called to report Gratto’s driving, told officials Gratto used a floor mat to get traction off the embankment, and continued driving south on S.C. 31 to S.C. 544 that day.

Gratto was driving north at 51 mph on Prestwick Club Drive, which has a 35 mph speed limit, when he crossed the center line about 7:30 p.m. May 15, 2013, and struck Errickson’s 2000 four-door Buick in the driver’s door as she drove it south with her fiancé, Charles Roach, in the passenger seat, Richardson said.

“There was no escape for them,” Richardson said before he played a surveillance video from a nearby tool shed that captured the crash.

Gratto could be seen on the video running from the crash about a minute afterward. He was arrested at his home, which was nearby.

Errickson’s family became emotional as the video played, while Gratto kept his head down and did not watch the recorded events.

Gratto’s blood alcohol content when it was taken at the hospital at 9:55 p.m. May 15, 2013, was 0.136, Richardson said.

“He was grossly intoxicated two and half hours after the crash,” Richardson said. “This defendant chose to drink and bar hop. He posed a danger to all on the road that day. We merely ask he answer for his crimes that day.”

Charles Roach, who continues to suffer from his injuries, said he had looked forward to gaining a family in his marriage to Errickson. The couple had been together eight years at the time of the crash.

“I remember [Gratto] looking in the window and I’m screaming for help and I look up and he was gone,” Roach said and noted he held Errickson’s head until help arrived.

But Gratto’s family and pastor told Hayes he was a good man who made a bad decision that day.

“When Gabe started out that day, he was a good guy and lived a decent life … he made tragic and terrible decisions,” said John Hilliard, who represented Gratto. “When you are drunk, you don’t know you’re drunk, that’s where he found himself that day.”

Gratto spent five days in jail after the crash and has spent the last two years on bail with alcohol monitors, Hilliard said.

Eighty-three-year-old Marlene Russell, Gratto’s grandmother, pleaded for a few more years with him.

“He’s always been a good grandson. Gabe would do anything he could to undo the damage,” she said. “He’s a loving person who made a bad decision on his day off. Could you give me a few more years with him?”

LaRain Kelly, Gratto’s mother, said her youngest son spent years training and going to college to achieve his dream of being a culinary professional.

“One day in a good man’s life has affected so many people’s lives that we will live with and regret. . . . The decisions of that day are a nightmare,” Kelly said. “I’m asking for mercy for all of us. . . so we can salvage some kind of life.”

After Monday’s hearing, Gratto’s brother, Huey Gratto, said he was upset with the long sentence for his brother.

“There needs to be something done for good people going to prison. This is a man who could serve our community for the greater good,” Huey Gratto said. “There are good and bad people in this world, and my brother was one of the good ones.”

This story was originally published April 13, 2015 at 5:40 PM with the headline "Myrtle Beach area man sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2013 fatal DUI crash."