Woman to spend 25 years in prison after crash kills 3 teens in Spartanburg

SPARTANBURG, S.C. (WSPA) – A woman pleaded guilty to a handful of charges related to a deadly crash that killed three teenagers in a Spartanburg County in 2021.

7NEWS previously reported Melissa Ann Parker was charged with killing three teenagers after the vehicle she was driving struck another head-on on Interstate 26 in August of 2021.

The Spartanburg County Solicitor’s Office said on August 16, 2021, Parker drove her vehicle to the Circle K on Asheville Highway before parking and entering another customer’s Hummer SUV. Reports said she stole the Hummer and drove around the Circle K several times as law enforcement responded, nearly hitting a responding officer who tried to stop her.

Parker then drove the Hummer onto I-26 near exit 15 headed in the wrong direction and collided with a Kia sedan driven by 18-year-old Brianna Foster.

Foster and 17-year-old twin sisters, Belle and Elle Gaddis, were killed in the crash. Another passenger in the car, Macy Watts, sustained minor injuries. Reports state the teens were all from Indiana and were driving to the beach.

According to the solicitor’s office, Parker crawled through the back windshield and left the scene following the crash. Highway patrol and K-9 officers with the Spartanburg Sheriff’s Office were able to track her location to a residential area nearby where Parker appeared to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Parker was taken to the hospital where it was determined she had taken THC gummies and Adderall before driving that night.

Parker was sentenced with three counts of felony DUI resulting in death, one count of assault and battery in the first degree, grand larceny and hit and run with minor personal injury.

The 46-year-old was sentenced to 25 years in prison and ordered to pay a $25,100 fine for each count of felony DUI death. She was also sentenced to 10 years for assault and battery in the first degree, 10 years for grand larceny and one year for hit and run with minor personal injury. All sentences will be served concurrently.

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