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by WILL FOLKS
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South Carolina’s Highway Patrol (SCHP) is facing withering criticism from the family of Morgan Michelle Horne, an Anderson, S.C. woman who was killed two-and-a-half years ago by a drunk driver.
“We will not allow her name to be remembered in the shadow of what was done to her, but in the light of what will change because of her,” Horne’s family said in a statement issued to media this week. “Morgan will be the reason South Carolina confronts its failures and chooses justice over protection.”
To recap: Benjamin Elliot McCormick, 36, of Anderson, S.C. was traveling eastbound on Concord Road – just north of Anderson, S.C. – at approximately 3:55 p.m. EST on the afternoon of March 5, 2023 when his Toyota Camry crossed over the center line and struck a Toyota Corolla driven by Horne.
An amateur golfer who had worked several regional PGA tour events, Horne was on her way to a golf outing at the time of the collision. She succumbed instantly to blunt force trauma when her vehicle was struck by McCormick’s – and was pronounced dead at the scene by Anderson County first responders.
She was 29 years old, and McCormick “ended (her) life in an instant.”
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Morgan was a 2011 honor graduate from T.L. Hanna High School – where she received the school’s highest award for character. She attended Tri-County Technical College for two years.
“She lived a dedicated life to community service participating in various charitable and fundraising events, often leading them,” her obituary noted. “Morgan loved so many people and she was loved by so many more. Her infectious smile was unwavering and always lit up a room.”
“She was vibrant, joyful, and fiercely kind,” her family added in a statement.
McCormick was traveling with two children – a seven-year-old and a child under the age of one – at the time of the crash. Initially, he was charged only with driving on the wrong side of the road and texting while driving. Months later, however, he was belatedly charged with one count of felony driving under the influence resulting in death, two counts of felony DUI resulting in great bodily injury and child endangerment.
According to warrants issued in connection with those charges, McCormick had a blood alcohol content (BAC) reading of .16% in the aftermath of the crash – which is twice the legal limit of 0.08%.
FITSNews covered this case extensively two years ago. We wondered at the time why it took so long for McCormick to be charged with DUI, noting the S.C. Department of Public Safety (SCDPS) – SCHP’s parent agency – launched an internal investigation into master trooper David P. Robertson for allegedly conducting an “improper accident investigation.”
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Earlier this month, McCormick was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison in connection with the crash – far less time than judges have handed down in other fatal DUI cases. He will receive credit for the two years he has already served behind bars – and if he keeps his nose clean in the custody of the S.C. Department of Corrections (SCDC), he will likely only wind up serving 85% of the full sentence imposed.
“Five years for the conscious decision to drive drunk, kill our daughter, and seriously injure children,” a statement from Horne’s family noted. “This is not justice. This is betrayal.”
Horne’s family praised the office of S.C. tenth circuit solicitor Micah Black, saying his prosecutors were “put in an impossible position by the failures of the South Carolina Highway Patrol.” They also praised S.C. circuit court judge R. Lawton McIntosh, for “ensuring that, despite the failures of the South Carolina Highway Patrol, Benjamin McCormick was finally held to account.”
“While the sentence imposed does not reflect the value of Morgan’s life, Judge McIntosh’s willingness to hear this case and ensure consequences were delivered gave our family the assurance that Morgan’s death would not go unanswered in the eyes of the court.”
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RELATED | LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRUPTION ALLEGED
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According to Horne’s family, Robertson’s investigation “failed” her from the very beginning. Specifically, they claim trooper Robinson “ignored multiple signs that provided for reasonable suspicion of impairment: witness statements of smell of alcohol in vehicle immediately following crash, an unopened beer bottle found near the crash, visible nystagmus, and McCormick’s own admission that he had been drinking the night before.”
“Any one of these was enough to justify implied consent and order a law-enforcement blood draw,” Horne’s family added. “Taken together, they made the decision obvious. Yet Robertson chose to do nothing. His inaction denied Morgan the thorough investigation—and the justice—she deserved from the start.”
Robertson also allegedly lied to Horne’s family about his “investigation” – and failed to appear in court under subpoena.
“His inaction and dishonesty destroyed the integrity of the case,” the family noted in its statement.
While the aforementioned internal investigation allegedly “sustained multiple allegations” against Robertson, SCHP “allowed him to quietly ‘retire’ with benefits intact — and even rehired him, at the same rank and pay, until we fought to have him terminated,” the statement continued.
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“This is not accountability,” the statement concluded. “This is a cover-up.”
SCDPS did not immediately respond to our request for comment regarding the Horne family’s statement, but in the event we receive a reply from the agency we will update our coverage accordingly. FITSNews is preparing a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request of SCDPS related to its investigation of Robertson.
In the aftermath of her death, Horne’s parents established the Morgan Horne Memorial Fund – an independent public charity and an IRS tax-exempt organization which advocates for “stricter laws and greater accountability related to texting and driving, DUI, and victims’ rights.”
“For nearly two years, Morgan was forced into the role of a victim — first by the man who drove drunk and killed her, and then by a system that denied her justice,” her family stated. “But starting today, that ends. From this moment forward, Morgan is no longer defined by what was taken from her. She is the catalyst for change in South Carolina. Her story exposes the failures of a broken system and demands reform. Her light, her kindness, her fierce compassion will now fuel a movement for accountability, stronger laws, and real justice for victims and their families.”
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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2 comments
The SCHP is a joke. It’s still run by the same good ole boys it always has been. When Mark Keel was the director he made big strides in cleaning it up. He fired numerous troopers and tried to straighten it out. Almost immediately after he was put back in charge of SLED the new director and his senior staff began hiring back the troopers Keel fired and forced the retirement or moved to undesirable posts of many of the honest people Keel had put in place.
This Trooper was incompetent from the beginning. It was widely known, and he was often the tail end of jokes. Once while driving like a complete idiot, he almost killed a Trooper Trainee, that was riding with him, when he crashed into a semi truck. If memory serves me correctly, the Trainee quit. He was a “high activity” guy, so he was given a pass by those that could have done something about him. There are many more just like him, that they quietly overlook, because the leadership has systematically dismantled the agency, with extraordinarily incompetent leadership, and now they cannot afford to hold people accountable.
Prove me wrong