Nordstrom begins 21 year sentence in SC prison

A Murrells Inlet man pleaded guilty to multiple counts of felony DUI from a March 2007 crash that killed two, last Thursday in Conway.

This Wednesday afternoon, 26 year old Jeremy Michael Nordstrom started serving a 21 year prison sentnece at the Kirkland Correctional Institution in Columbia.

Corrections officers will classify Nordstrom and assign him a bed either at the Kirkland facility, or another prison in the state.

Nordstrom's release date is set for March 11, 2027.

Troopers charged Nordstrom with the deaths of two Horry County women, and seriously injuring another in the accident.

Circuit Court Judge Kristi Harrington sentenced Nordstrom to 21 years in prison Thursday afternoon.

Harrington told Nordstrom, "It was your decision to order drink, after drink, after drink," then drive while the victims in the case got a designated driver to drive them home.

The crash happened at the intersection on Highway 544 and Highway 17 Business near Surfside Beach in the early morning hours of March 31, 2007.

Nordstrom was driving southbound on Highway 17 when he ran a red light and slammed into two other cars. Two of the three people inside one of the cars died, another sent to the hospital with serious injuries.

Troopers arrested Nordstrom at the scene and charged him with two counts of felony DUI involving death and one count of felony DUI with great bodily injury and possession of a controlled substance.

The Highway Patrol reports showed Nordstrom's blood alcohol level at 0.23, that's almost three times the legal limit in South Carolina.

Prosecutors later charged Nordstrom with another count of felony DUI with great bodily injury, then a Horry County grand jury indicted Nordstrom on all counts on June 28, 2007.

Savannah Edgar and Shanna Stines died in the crash.

Both were graduates of Socastee High, Stines coached the St. James High softball team; both were actively involved in athletics at the schools.

The other woman in the crash, Amanda Tenney, suffered a broken jaw in the crash and spoke at Nordstrom's hearing telling the court she didn't know Edgar or Stines, but thought about them daily.

The man driving the car the two girls were in, Craig Kurtz, told News13 following the bond hearing last year that he's lucky to have survived the crash and was outwardly upset over what happened.

Nordstrom was charged with driving under the influence, open container, and reckless driving in 1998, but pleaded guilty to open container and reckless driving which erased the DUI, according to assistant solicitor Scott Hixson.

Hixson told the court Thursday that Nordstrom was out of jail on bond from a previous DUI when he caused the crash that killed Edgar and Stines last year.

In 2001, Nordstrom was charged with DUI and possession with intent to distribute marijuana in Pennsylvania and completed a pre-trial program there, according to Hixson.

In May 2006, Hixson told the court Nordstrom hit a motorcycle when he crossed the center line in the Inlet Square Drive section in Horry County, and was charged with DUI.

Hixson said Nordstrom was out of jail on bond awaiting trial on that DUI charge when he caused the accident that killed Edgar and Stines last year.

Nordstrom was playing in a reggae band at Wild Wing Cafe in Garden City the night of the accident, and was drinking heavily, Hixson told the judge Thursday.

Nordstrom was released from the J. Reuben Long Detention Center on July 20, 2007 under house arrest.

Nordstrom faced up to 25 years in prison on each count of felony DUI involving death.