Teenager killed when SUV she was driving crashed into tree, SC coroner says
A teenager was killed Wednesday when the SUV she was driving crashed into a tree, the Aiken County Coroner’s Office said.
Emily Heath, an 18-year-old Aiken resident, died in the accident, Coroner Darryl Ables said.
The single-vehicle collision happened at about 10 a.m. in Aiken County, according to Lance Cpl. Brittany Glover of the South Carolina Highway Patrol.
Heath was driving a 2007 Mercury SUV north on Green Pond Road, Glover said. Near the intersection with Modoc Lane, the SUV swerved left of the center line, then Heath overcorrected and the vehicle ran off the right side of the road where it crashed into a tree, according to Ables.
Heath died at the scene, Ables said.
Glover said Heath was the only person in the SUV, and no other injuries were reported.
Information about what caused the SUV to originally veer across the road was not available, but Ables said his office and the Highway Patrol are continuing to investigate the wreck.
Through Jan. 15, 26 people have died on South Carolina roads in 2024, according to the state Department of Public Safety. Last year, 999 people died in crashes in South Carolina, DPS reported.
At least three people have died in Aiken County crashes in 2024, according to DPS data. There were 38 deaths reported in the county in 2023, DPS reported.
