A woman charged in connection to a fatal crash in Myrtle Beach in 2017 was sentenced to prison in August.
According to O’Bryan Martin, the assistant solicitor who prosecuted the case for the 15th Circuit Solicitor’s Office, Deborah Bullock pleaded guilty to reckless homicide on August 23. Circuit Court Judge Steven B. John sentenced Bullock to serve six years in prison with credit for the one day she had previously served in jail.
Martin also said Bullock’s original charge was dismissed because there was no alcohol involved in the case. Bullock reportedly admitted to taking methadone and sniffing a dusting canister before the crash.
Bullock must serve 85-percent of her sentence before she is eligible for parole, according to Martin.
Martin said Bullock has cooperated with the Solicitor’s Office in the criminal investigation and is working with the victim’s family regarding insurance claims and a lawsuit.
The victim’s family was aware of the negotiated plea and were in agreement with the officer, Martin also said.
The Horry County Coroner’s Office said 64-year-old Joan C. Banks-Miller died in the crash in April 2017. The victim was a passenger in one of the cars and pronounced dead at the scene from internal injuries. Two others were hurt, police said.
An incident report said a Lincoln vehicle traveling east on Mr. Joe White Avenue allegedly lost control, drove left of the center line, and struck another vehicle traveling westbound.
A lawsuit was filed against the Center of Hope in Myrtle Beach in April in connection to the crash.
The lawsuit claimed the Center of Hope was negligent in giving methadone to Bullock without first testing to see if she already had drugs in her system. The court document also stated the clinic gave Bullock an “excessive dose of methadone” when workers knew, or should have known, that Bullock drove herself to the clinic and before leaving was showing signs of impairment.
The suit concluded that the crash victim’s medical expenses, hospitalization, pain and suffering, disfigurement, emotional distress and mental anguish are a direct result of the clinic’s “grossly negligent and reckless conduct.”
While the lawsuit did not give a requested dollar amount, it did ask for attorney fees and “actual and punitive damages” based on the Center of Hope’s alleged negligence in giving Bullock methadone and contributing to the crash that killed the plaintiff’s wife.
