Wrongful death lawsuit depicts harrowing final moments of woman killed on Horry County beach
HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) — The family of a Myrtle Beach woman who was killed by an Horry County police department vehicle last month has filed a wrongful death suit.
Sandra “Sandy” Schultz-Peters, 66, died on June 13 after she was hit by the full-sized vehicle near the Nash Street beach access.
The 12-page suit filed Friday in Horry County Common Pleas Court names the police department as the lone defendant. It claims her death was the result of negligence and lax supervision.
Horry County spokeswoman Mikayla Moscov declined to comment, citing the ongoing litigation.
Julian “Duke” Brown, the county’s director of beach safety, was driving the truck that hit Peters and is named multiple times in the lawsuit. News13 previously chose not to use his name because no charges had been filed.
The lawsuit also includes allegations that Brown previously ran over beach chairs and other personal belongings on the beach multiple times before the June 13 incident.
“The Horry County Police Department’s Beach Patrol’s tolerance for its officers running over beachgoers with full-sized motor vehicles should be exactly 0.00%,” W. Coleman Lawrimore, an attorney with Conway-based Derrick Law Firm, wrote. “…an infinite array of solutions existed that would completely eliminate the possibility that an Horry County beachgoer would experience a greater than 0.00% chance of a Beach Patrol officer running them over with a full-sized motor vehicle.”
Brown joined the Horry County Police Department in May 1988, according to state Criminal Justice Academy records obtained by News13.
A day before he struck Peters, Brown attended a lifeguard and beach training exercise at Myrtle Beach State Park where he spoke with News13 about best practices.
Brown said this summer would have been his 59th working on beach safety, dating back to his years as a junior lifeguard.
“This is my 36th year as beach safety director and I enjoy working with these,” Brown said. “I was a schoolteacher for 41 years and I enjoyed working with students then.”
Horry County officials have twice declined to comment on the incident — including once again on Monday. Both times, they deferred to the South Carolina Highway Patrol, which is heading the investigation into Peters’ death.
The complaint offers new details about what happened in the time leading up to Peters’ death. She was hit at about 1 p.m. It also says the weather conditions were clear, that Brown was not responding to an emergency and that his vision was not obstructed.
According to the lawsuit, Brown put the vehicle in gear, released the brake and headed north on the beach. He was somehow distracted and didn’t ensure his path ahead was clear of objects and beachgoers.
Peters died at 3:09 pm. But before that happened, the lawsuit describes a harrowing scene.
“Upon being run over by Officer Brown’s full-sized motor vehicle, as confirmed by several credible eyewitnesses, Ms. Schultz Peters let out what has been described as ‘the most powerful scream,” the lawsuit says. “Concerned onlookers lifted Officer Brown’s full-sized vehicle off Ms. Schultz Peters trapped body. Ms. Schultz Peters assisted the concerned onlookers in unlocking her phone in order to make a call.”
Peters’ brother Tony Schultz says his family wants to pass legislation called “Safe Sands for Sandy” banning full-sized emergency vehicles on beaches.
“With this tragic event, I want one positive thing to come out of this, and that is to have people going to the beach with zero risk of this ever happening again,” Schultz said.
Days after Peters’ death, state Rep. William Bailey, R-Little River, said he planned to introduce legislation that would prohibit full-sized vehicles being used on the beach during summer hours outside of non-emergency situations.
“There’s just no room on the coast for the sunbathers and people who are coming down to enjoy our area, and also have F-150s and other vehicles when we have other resources that we could depend on,” Bailey said on June 15.
Peters’ death also prompted Horry County and Myrtle Beach officials to re-evaluate their own policies.
On June 20, Horry County police said they were limiting the use of trucks on beaches, substituting them with increased foot and ATV patrols.
James Mosley, a Myrtle Beach resident, told News13 shortly after Peters’ death the incident makes him think twice before deciding where to sit on the beach.
“It does make you be afraid to want to go on the beach, and the public and tourists want to come on the beach,” Mosley said. “And now, there’ll be scared after this to be on the beach. It’s bad enough [with] the sharks out there. Now, you got policemen running over people.”
Chris Brewster, chair of the National Certification Committee with the U.S. Lifesaving Association says full-sized vehicles are essential to quickly help people in need.
“There is an inevitable risk that’s involved in any kinds of motorized vehicles or, you know, motorized boats or whatever being used in rescue on the beach, just like on the street that accidents can happen,” Brewster said.
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Adam Benson joined the News13 digital team in January 2024. He is a veteran South Carolina reporter with previous stops at the Greenwood Index-Journal, Post & Courier and The Sun News in Myrtle Beach. Adam is a Boston native and University of Utah graduate. Follow Adam on X, formerly Twitter, at @AdamNewshound12. See more of his work here.
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Adrianna Lawrence is a multimedia journalist at News13. Adrianna is originally from Virginia Beach, Virginia, and joined the News13 team in June 2023 after graduating from Virginia Commonwealth University in May 2023. Keep up with Adrianna on Instagram, Facebook, and X, formerly Twitter. You can also read more of her work, here.
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