Man pleads guilty in hit-and-run that killed Greenville Co. teacher

GREENVILLE COUNTY, S.C. (WSPA) – A hit-and-run driver responsible for a crash that killed a Greenville County teacher pleaded guilty in court Monday.

Mantavious McMorris pleaded guilty to reckless homicide, habitual traffic offender involving death, and hit-and-run involving death.

The crash happened June 6, 2021, along Sulphur Springs Road.

Carli Brewer Soukup was described to 7NEWS as extremely caring, and the cheerleader of anyone she met, especially her family and her students.

“She just brightened the room, it was kind of hard to be too sad or upset around her when she was just so uplifting,” said Ryan Soukup, Carli’s husband. “She brought that to her students as a teacher at Mitchell Road, she just had a light to her that illuminated and reflected.”

7 months after getting married, 33-year-old Soukup and her husband were enjoying their routine Sunday bike ride on the Swamp Rabbit Trail, when she was hit and killed while legally crossing Sulphur Springs Road, by a driver who disregarded a red light.

“You know, I saw my wife laying on the pavement and that was taken from me, the future with her was taken, lots of memories are still there of course and they’ll never be gone but the future ended that day and it’s been heartbreaking,” said Soukup.

At the time of the incident, the solicitor’s office said McMorris, whose record dates back to 2000, was driving with a suspended license and ultimately drove away, before having his mother report the vehicle he was driving as stolen. We’re told McMorris then tried to disguise the vehicle. The solicitor’s office said the car was eventually found burned.

“Why Carli,” said Wanda Brewer Ickes, Carli’s mother. “Somebody who just poured herself into the next generation. Why somebody who has been a habitual offender, who was in jail just two nights before he killed her, why is he still here. That’s the biggest mystery. But I do know this, at least we’ve got the next 23 years that he cannot kill another teacher out on a peaceful bike ride with her husband.”

Following the incident, Carli’s Legacy was launched. It’s a campaign organized by her family that provides financial assistance and mental health resources to Greenville County students. It also works on heightening safety around the Swamp Rabbit Trail.

“Ryan worked to get the light delayed, so that when the light turns red, there’s more of a delay before the green light to give motorists more opportunity to stop,” said Brewer Ickes. “In this case nothing would’ve helped because that’s just the nature of that person. Then we have green paint added to the intersection which just amplifies that there are people on bicycles and foot trying to cross over to continue enjoying the trail.”

The victim’s family members who were in the courtroom said they have mixed emotions about the result.

“It’s a sure thing, a trial is never a sure thing, you’re at the mercy of 12 jurors and one of them can make a charge not stick so to have a sentence is great and admission of guilt is great,” said Soukup. “We know that for the next 23 years he won’t be on the street or a threat to anybody, which is huge. At the same time, it could’ve been longer if we had gone to trial, which is more time with someone who is a known offender off the streets.”

As the community moves forward, Carli’s Legacy, her family said, will move forward with them.

“She just cared that she was able to pour her heart and soul into somebody else and make them feel like they were better prepared for life,” said Brewer Ickes.

South Carolina Highway Patrol said 33-year-old Carli Brewer Soukup was riding her bicycle along the Swamp Rabbit Trail and was crossing Sulphur Springs Road when she was hit by a pickup truck.

McMorris was sentenced to 23 years in prison and with a $10,000 fine.

Soukup was a teacher at Mitchell Road Elementary School.

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