In 2022, a man from Charlotte who was going almost 100 mph never hit the brakes when his car hit an SUV on South Carolina’s Interstate 77. The accident killed a 7-year-old boy and hurt the boy’s father, officials said in court Monday.
There are charges against 37-year-old Jason Connell Palmer in Chester County for reckless homicide, assault, and abuse of a high and aggravated nature, and having crack cocaine and marijuana on him. If he is found guilty of reckless homicide and assault, he could spend up to 30 years in jail.
The trial began on Monday. Palmer has said he is not guilty.
Max Shanks from Matthews, North Carolina, died when his family’s SUV hit some trees on July 10, 2022. Prosecutor Candice Lively said that his father, Corey, had a severe brain injury. The SUV was being driven by Max’s mother, Jessica Shanks, and his younger brother was also in it.
Lively told the jury in her opening statement that Palmer was driving a van at 98 mph at the time of the accident, which was what the police investigation showed. The Shanks were on their way back to North Carolina when the accident happened on northbound I-77 around 5 p.m. on a Sunday. As of now, the crash south of Rock Hill is only allowed 70 MPH.
Lively said Palmer drove “like a storm that was going to destroy everything in its path.” “Does going 98 miles per hour make sense?” Without a doubt not.”
A defense: The police made snap decisions.
Palmer has been in jail since the crash without being able to post bail.
At first, the S.C. Highway Patrol charged him with a serious DUI. But later tests showed he wasn’t drunk, Palmer’s lawyer, public defender William Frick, said in court on Monday.
As his opening statement, Frick told the jury that the cops made a “knee-jerk” decision that Palmer was at fault for the crash. Frick said that people speed on I-77 all the time, and Max Shanks’ death was “a tragedy.”
Based on what was shown in court, Palmer was not the “proximate cause” of the crash, Frick said.
Monday afternoon, a number of onlookers said they saw the crash or called 911. The trial starts up again on Tuesday and could last for several days.
