SC mom gets 10 years in DUI crash that killed daughter, injured son

A Lancaster mother who was driving drunk when her 5-year-old daughter was killed in a 2014 crash that also injured her son was sentenced to 10 years in prison Monday after pleading guilty, court officials said.

Goldie Jackson, 27, pleaded guilty to reckless homicide in the death of daughter Justice Pope-Jackson, said Randy Newman, 6th Circuit solicitor.

Late on Aug. 15, 2014, Jackson was driving on S.C. 200 east of Great Falls in Lancaster County before the single car crash

Both children were airlifted to hospitals after the crash. Justice died the next day. Jackson’s son, 8 at the time, suffered injuries.

Jackson’s leg had to be amputated from her own injuries in the crash, Newman said. Her blood alcohol content was .09, Newman said, which is over the legal limit. She also had marijuana in her system.

“There is no good outcome to this case. You have a family that lost a child and now a child that has lost a mother,” Newman said. “My heart goes out to the family and I pray that folks in this community will read this and realize that you simply cannot get behind the wheel when you are drinking; it is not worth the risk.”

Jackson also pleaded guilty Monday to felony DUI resulting in great bodily injury concerning her son, and child endangerment. The 10 years for reckless homicide is the maximum under state law.

Sentences of 10 years for the great bodily injury DUI and seven years for the child endangerment will run concurrent with the 10 years Jackson received for the reckless homicide, said Newman and Jackson’s lawyer, 6th Circuit Chief Public Defender Mike Lifsey. Lifsey described the case as “tragic.”

Jackson was charged after an investigation by the S.C. Highway Patrol.

This story was originally published March 1, 2016 at 12:07 PM with the headline "SC mom gets 10 years in DUI crash that killed daughter, injured son."