The Daily Gamecock

Victims in fatal car crash were traveling at 90 mph

Toxicology report not yet available

According to the report, third-year history student Brian McGrath's car was headed south on George Rogers Boulevard, driving "too fast for conditions," before it veered off the side of the road and collided with the building.

Rain may also have been a contributing factor to the crash, according to Columbia Police Department spokeswoman Jennifer Timmons.

A toxicology report for the incident is currently pending at the request of the Richland County Coroner's Office, Timmons said.

The victims identified in the crash were McGrath; Kelsey "Kel" Harris, a fourth-year economics student; Billings "Billy" Fuess IV, a former student who attended USC last semester; and Melinda Pipp, who was not associated with the university, according to USC spokesman Wes Hickman.

All four died from multiple traumas resulting from the collision, and autopsies showed all of the victims were dead prior to the fire that engulfed the vehicle, according to an earlier release from Richland County Coroner Gary Watts.

The group had been seen after midnight at the Wild Hare Cafe in the Vista, where Pipp worked, and then again around 3:30 a.m. leaving Uncle Fester's sports bar on Devine Street, according to the coroner's release.

McGrath and Fuess were 22 years old, and Pipp was 24. McGrath lived at Carolina Walk at the intersection of George Rogers Boulevard and Bluff Road.

Harris and Pipp were roommates living on the 2900 block of Bratton Street in the Melrose Heights neighborhood. McGrath and Fuess were high school friends, the report said.


Comments

Trending Now

Send a Tip Get Our Email Editions