TEMPERANCE HILL, S.C. – The driver of an 18-wheeler that slammed into a fall hay ride, killing a toddler and three adults, was charged Monday with felony drunken driving (search), authorities said.
The collision happened just after 7 p.m. Sunday when the semi hit the flat-bed trailer and tractor that was pulling it. Sixteen people were injured in the deadly crash; two remained hospitalized Monday afternoon.
The trailer had no rear lights, authorities said.
The truck driver, 51-year-old Jake Davis Jr. of Florence, was charged with felony driving under the influence, Trooper Sonny Collins said.
Marion County (search) Coroner Jerry Richardson identified the dead as Jerry Wayne Jones, 31, and Shiwanna Lowery, 15, both of Dillion; Freddie Lynn Jones, 24, of Fork; and 2-year-old Javon Jones. The boy's hometown was unknown.
Collins said accident reconstruction teams were at the scene Monday and it was unclear how fast the truck was traveling.
He would not release the blood-alcohol level of the truck driver and said the investigation was continuing. "We're just at the very beginning stages of it. There was enough evidence to support this charge," Collins said.
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