A South Carolina mother and her two daughters died on Mother’s Day in a crash with Charleston County deputy Emily Pelletier.
53-year-old Stephania Dantzler and her daughters, 28-year-old Shanice Dantzler-Williams and 22-year-old Miranda Dantzler-Williams, died on scene.
According to a South Carolina Highway Patrol report Pelletier drove through a stop sign on New Road, crossed two lanes of Highway 17 and then crashed into the Dantzler-Williams family vehicle.
Pelletier appeared in court on Friday with her family and attorney to face three counts of reckless homicide.
Less than two hours after being booked at the Al Cannon Detention Center, she was released under a $75,000 surety bond
“I’m going to set bond of each charge for $25,000 per charge, so that’s a total surety bond of $75,000,” the judge said.
The judge said Pelletier cannot contact the Dantzler family or travel outside the state of South Carolina.
The judge added each charge comes with a prison sentence of up to 10 years.
“I understand you have ties to the community, and you have family, you have no prior history. But, I do think the level of recklessness in this situation speaks for itself as to dangers in the communities,” she said.
One of the attorneys for the Dantzler-Williams family, Marvin Pendarvis, asked for no bond, but the judge said she cannot do that because the crime is not deemed violent.
“It was not their time to die. The charging of Emily Pelletier with three counts of reckless homicide shows her conscious reckless behavior and the facts are known,” said Pendarvis, who also is a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives.
“The deputy acted with deliberate indifference to human life that night. She was not responding to an emergency and did not turn on her emergency lights,” he added.
Pelletier is due back in court on July 29 at 2 p.m.
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