SC college student and high school senior killed in car crash after prom, coroner says
Two teenagers killed in a car crash early Sunday morning were identified as a college freshman and high school student by the Charleston County Coroner’s Office.
Keith Schemm and Elizabeth “Libby” Daniel were pronounced dead on scene at the single-vehicle crash that happened after the two attended the prom at Wando High School in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, deputy coroner Anita Hasert said, according to WCBD.
Schemm, 19, was a freshman cadet at The Citadel, having graduated in 2018 from Wando High School, where 18-year-old Daniel was a senior, WCIV reported.
“The entire Wando High School family is coping with the loss of one of our students and a recent graduate over the weekend,” Wando High principal Dr. Sherry Eppelsheimer said in a statement shared by WCSC. “We are heartbroken, and our thoughts are with the families of these two students, as well as the many friends and faculty members who are affected.”
Awendaw-McClellanville firefighters responded to the crash just before 2:30 a.m., according to WCIV. Authorities said the SUV ran off Rifle Range Road and hit a tree, WCBD reported.
Officials have not identified which teen was driving the vehicle at the time of the deadly wreck, WCSC said.
The Mount Pleasant Police Department is investigating the crash, according to WCBD.
Both Daniel and Schemm had the same profile picture on each of their Facebook pages, an image of them hugging and smiling.
Eppelsheimer said Daniel was the Cadet Core Commander of Wando’s Air Force JROTC program, WCSC reported.
The Citadel, known as the military college of South Carolina, released a statement on Shemm’s death, calling it a “tragic car crash.”
“We are a small community, and when such things happen all of us feel a profound sense of loss,” Citadel president Gen. Glenn M. Walters said in a statement shared by WCIV. “Keith’s family, classmates and friends will need our support as they mourn his loss. No one in our community should walk alone if he or she is hurting, so please reach out to support each other as we mourn this tragic loss.”
Members of the Charleston County School District Crisis Team and school counselors have been made available for students and staff at Wando, Eppelsheimer said in the statement shared by WCBD.
This was not the only incident where a student was killed after attending prom.
Trinity Brandasia Harrison, a senior at Ware Shoals High School, was also killed in a car crash after attending her prom on Saturday in South Carolina’s Upstate region, The State reported. In that crash, the 27-year-old driver of another car was charged with felony DUI resulting in death, according to the newspaper.
This story was originally published April 9, 2019 at 6:31 AM with the headline "SC college student and high school senior killed in car crash after prom, coroner says."
