SC driver who killed motorcyclist said she was drinking due to federal investigation
A Little River woman pleaded guilty Tuesday to driving under the influence which resulted in the death of a motorcyclist.
Her guilty plea comes two months after her federal conviction on laundering $750,000 in assets that were illegally obtained using proceeds from drug trafficking.
Kayla Tisdale, 38, was sentenced to 14 years in prison for the charge of DUI resulting in death, according to a release from the 15th Circuit Solicitor’s Office.
Tisdale was driving with a 0.19 blood alcohol concentration when she crashed into a motorcyclist on Sea Mountain Highway in North Myrtle Beach on April 4, 2025. Her blood alcohol content level was almost three times higher than the legal limit of 0.08.
Steven Marshall, 62, was killed in the crash. Marshall, who had retired after more than 20 years in law enforcement, had moved to the Myrtle Beach area from Pennsylvania a few years earlier and was killed almost instantly in the crash, the release said.
Driver leaves the scene, admits to drinking
Tisdale left the scene and picked up her daughter from elementary school before she arrested by troopers with the South Carolina Highway Patrol as she pulled up to a house, the release said.
Tisdale admitted that she had been drinking since 8:30 a.m. that morning because of her ongoing federal investigation, the release said. Tisdale said Tuesday that she did not remember purchasing her last drink from Circle K, which was caught on surveillance video. The defendant was identified as the driver because witnesses at the scene took pictures of her license plate when she fled.
Tisdale is also awaiting sentencing on her federal charge. In April, Tisdale pleaded guilty to a federal charge of misprision of a felony for keeping $750,000 in cash and gold bullion as part of an illegal scheme linked to drug trafficking.
