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Miranda Renasia Dantzler-Williams

Age : 28

Gender : Female

Race : Black

Date : 05/08/2022

Location : U.S. Highway 17 at New Road

City : Charleston

County : Charleston

State : South Carolina

Agency : Charleston County Sheriff's Office

Officer(s) :Emily Pelletier

Cause of Death : Vehicle

Event : Bystander killed by speeding officer running stop sign

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

On 05/08/2022, 22-year-old Miranda Renasia Dantzler-Williams was killed when Charleston County Sheriff's Deputy Emily Nicole Pelletier drove through a stop sign and struck the Toyota Camry in which Dantzler-Williams was a passenger at U.S. Highway 17 and New Road near Ravenel. Miranda's sister, Shanice Renee Dantzler-Williams, 28, who was driving, and their mother, Stephanie Dantzler, 53, were also killed. Sheriff's records identify Miranda as a 22-year-old Black woman.
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Pelletier and another deputy were responding to a non-emergency report of a disabled vehicle. Pelletier was not using emergency lights or a siren and was required to obey ordinary traffic laws. Investigators determined that she drove through the stop sign on New Road and crossed multiple lanes of U.S. 17 before striking the family's southbound car.
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The South Carolina Highway Patrol investigation determined that Pelletier was traveling approximately 81 mph shortly before the collision and approximately 73 mph as she entered the intersection. The speed limit on New Road was 45 mph. The Camry driven by Shanice Dantzler-Williams was traveling approximately 53 mph in a 60-mph zone.
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Pelletier was terminated by the Charleston County Sheriff's Office on June 10, 2022, for policy violations related to the crash and was charged with three counts of reckless homicide.
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In April 2025, a Charleston County jury found Pelletier guilty of all three counts of reckless homicide. The court sentenced her to five years on each count, suspended to three years in prison followed by two years of probation, with the sentences running concurrently.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND:
Emily Nicole Pelletier was 24 and employed as a Charleston County Sheriff's Office deputy at the time of the crash. She was terminated following the sheriff's internal investigation. The criminal prosecution ultimately resulted in her April 21, 2025 conviction on three counts of reckless homicide for the deaths of Miranda Dantzler-Williams, Shanice Dantzler-Williams and Stephanie Dantzler.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://sheriff.charlestoncounty.org/news/2022/deputy-involved-collisions-on-savannah-hwy.pdf
https://www.live5news.com/2022/07/22/report-deputy-did-not-activate-emergency-equipment-prior-deadly-crash/
https://charlestoncitypaper.com/2022/06/10/pelletier-terminated-from-sheriffs-office-bond-set-for-75000/
https://www.live5news.com/2025/04/21/ex-charleston-deputy-convicted-mothers-day-crash-that-killed-3/
https://www.s csolicitor9.org/dockets/CharlestonTrialDocketArchive/CharlestonTrialDocket_20250414.pdf