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Brianna Lynn Foster

Age : 18

Gender : Female

Race : White

Date : 08/16/2021

Location : Interstate 26 eastbound, mile marker 14.5 near US 176

City : Inman

County : Spartanburg

State : South Carolina

Agency : Inman Police Department

Officer(s) :Not Disclosed

Cause of Death : Vehicle

Event : Bystander killed by police chase crash

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

On 08/16/2021, 18-year-old Brianna Lynn Foster was killed when a stolen Hummer traveling the wrong direction on Interstate 26 crashed head-on into the Kia she was driving near mile marker 14.5 in Spartanburg County. Foster was traveling from Fishers, Indiana, to the South Carolina coast with 17-year-old twins Elleana and Isabella Gaddis and their 17-year-old friend Maci Watts.
The later criminal prosecution substantially clarified the events preceding the crash. Shortly before 2 a.m., Melissa Ann Parker arrived at a Circle K on Asheville Highway in her own vehicle, parked it and climbed into another customer's Hummer SUV. Parker stole the Hummer and drove it repeatedly around the Circle K while law enforcement arrived.
An Inman Police Department officer attempted to stop Parker at the gas station. According to prosecutors, Parker nearly struck the officer and then drove away in the Hummer. She entered Interstate 26 near Exit 15 traveling west in the eastbound lanes.
At approximately 2:06 a.m., the wrong-way Hummer collided head-on with Foster's eastbound Kia near mile marker 14.5. Foster and passengers Elleana and Isabella Gaddis were killed. Watts survived with minor injuries.
Parker escaped from the wrecked Hummer through its rear window and left the crash scene without contacting emergency services. South Carolina Highway Patrol personnel, Spartanburg County sheriff's deputies and K-9 teams searched the surrounding area and found her in a residential neighborhood adjacent to I-26. Investigators determined that she had consumed THC gummies and Adderall before driving.
The later prosecutorial account is important in assessing the law-enforcement role in the incident. It establishes that an Inman officer attempted to stop Parker at the Circle K immediately before she drove onto the interstate, but it does not describe officers pursuing the Hummer onto I-26 behind her. The available evidence therefore does not establish this as a continuing high-speed police pursuit at the moment Parker crashed into Foster's vehicle.
Foster was a recent Hamilton Southeastern High School graduate. The Gaddis twins were still students at Hamilton Southeastern. The four friends were traveling together from Fishers to the beach when the crash occurred.
The criminal case remained pending for more than three years. On 09/23/2024, Parker pleaded guilty to three counts of felony DUI resulting in death, first-degree assault and battery, grand larceny and hit-and-run with minor personal injury.
Circuit Court Judge R. Keith Kelly sentenced Parker to 25 years in prison and a $25,100 fine on each of the three felony-DUI-death convictions. He also imposed 10 years for first-degree assault and battery, 10 years for grand larceny and one year for hit-and-run. The sentences run concurrently, leaving Parker with an effective 25-year prison sentence.
Foster's mother, Jodi Foster, spoke publicly after sentencing and said the punishment did not provide sufficient justice for the three young women. She described the deaths as permanent sentences for their families and believed Parker should have received a sentence reflecting that loss.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://www.spartanburgcounty.gov/DocumentCenter/View/103955/092324--Spartanburg-Woman-Sentenced-for-The-Deaths-of-Three-Young-Women
https://www.foxcarolina.com/2024/09/23/plea-hearing-take-place-woman-accused-killing-3-upstate-teens-wrong-way-crash/
https://www.wyff4.com/article/woman-sentenced-wrong-south-carolina-crash-teens/62337150
https://www.wthr.com/article/news/crime/woman-sentenced-to-prison-in-wrong-way-crash-that-killed-3-fishers-teens-melissa-ann-parker/531-93f658ab-92fc-496a-b860-e974d7b993f6
https://www.indystar.com/story/news/local/hamilton-county/2021/08/17/3-fishers-teens-killed-car-crash-south-carolina/8155533002/
https://www.goupstate.com/story/news/2021/08/30/spartanburg-teens-killed-dui-crash-suspect-pleads-guilty/5637680001/
https://www.wyff4.com/article/three-teens-from-indiana-die-in-south-carolina-wrong-way-crash-with-hummer/37319748