Teenager killed in crash when car runs off South Carolina road, officials say
A teenager was killed over the weekend in a crash that left two other people injured, according to the Pickens County Coroner’s Office.
Leeland Cole Yates, a 17-year-old Liberty resident, is the person who died Saturday in the wreck, Coroner Andrew Wilson said.
Yates was a passenger in the front seat of a 2002 Ford sedan that was involved in a single-vehicle collision, according to Cpl. Nick Pye of the South Carolina Highway Patrol.
The Ford was driving east on Breazeale Road, according to Pye. Near the intersection with Ashley Lane the Ford ran off Breazeale Road and crashed into a tree, Pye said.
Yates, who was wearing a seatbelt, died at the scene, according to Wilson. The coroner said that his office responded to the collision at about 1:50 p.m.
Both the driver and a passenger, sitting in the back seat of the Ford, were hurt and taken to an area hospital, Pye said. Further information on their conditions was not available.
No other injuries were reported.
There was no word if the surviving crash victims were wearing seatbelts.
Information about what caused the Ford to veer off the road was not available, but the wreck continues to be investigated by the Highway Patrol and coroner’s office.
Through Feb. 15, at least 75 people had died on South Carolina roads in 2026, according to the state Department of Public Safety. A minimum of 914 people were killed in collisions in South Carolina in 2025, DPS data shows.
At least one person has died in a Pickens County crash this year, and 16 people died in wrecks there in 2025, according to DPS data.
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This story was originally published February 23, 2026 at 9:34 AM with the headline "Teenager killed in crash when car runs off South Carolina road, officials say."
