State opens investigation into Horry parole agent home detention issue
Curtis Graham/WBTW
Taylor Shelley participated in a softball tournament Wednesday in Myrtle Beach while serving a sentence for reckless homicide. A circuit judge ordered her to six months of home detention last month, a parole agent allowed her leave form the sentence to participate in the tournament this week.
Published: August 10, 2008
In July, North Myrtle Beach High School student, 17-year-old Taylor Shelley, pleaded guilty to reckless homicide in connection to the drunken driving crash she admitted she caused in July 2007.
Shelley’s friend, 16-year-old Kayla Bennett, died in a North Carolina hospital after medics flew her by helicopter from Cherry Hill Road near Loris.
Troopers originally charged Shelley with felony driving under the influence following the crash, but because of a problem with evidence collected in the investigation, prosecutors and the victim’s family settled with a reckless homicide plea and court-ordered probation.
A condition of the probation required Shelley to be committed to six months of home detention, only to be release to attend “school classes, medical appointments, church services, or other appointments in compliance with her probation,” according to the judge’s sentencing order.
“This was a negotiated plea. We worked a long time with the defense attorney. We thought it was fair; everyone agreed to it and now probation isn’t making sure the conditions are met, in my opinion,” 12th Circuit Solicitor Ed Clements told News13 on Friday.
Clements prosecuted the case for solicitor Greg Hembree because of a conflict with the parties involved and the 15th Circuit Solicitor’s Office.
News13 aired a report on August 6 where parole agents allowed Shelley to participate in a softball tournament in Myrtle Beach.
Shelley’s mother, Kim Shelley, said Wednesday that the softball “was a part of her therapy,” and the State Department of Probation said it’s agent, who gave the Shelley’s the exception to the home detention, acted within the scope of the judge’s order.
Clements said he couldn’t get a clear answer from the department when he called Thursday, “I talked with the deputy director in Columbia, she knew what I was calling about and she said she was going to check into it and talk to them and get back with me and that was yesterday and I haven’t heard back from them yet.”
A spokesman with Governor Mark Sanford’s office in Columbia said on Friday that, “we have received the details concerning this case and we are currently in the process of looking into the allegations,” Joel Sawyer said.
The South Carolina Victim’s Assistance Network, who ensures victim’s rights are protected, said they are currently investigating the matter, “We’re working to get to the bottom of why the probation agent made the decision, and to see if the probation conditions in this case are being followed,” SCVAN director Veronica Kunz said.
Clements said he only wants to make sure parole agents are complying with the judge’s order, “It’s not to cause any problems with this individual; she’s doing what she’s allowed to do, but what I want her to understand and I want the community to understand that there are consequences to your actions and there’s accountability,” Clements said.
SCVAN said if its investigators do find that the parole agent has not complied, it would file a motion with circuit court to bring the agent back before the court to let a judge decide the matter.
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Reader Reactions
Trav, in no way do I blame this girl solely for what has happened. If you’d read my other posts on the last (or maybe first) story that was ran online, you’d see that I have comments there as well, stating that I blame BOTH of them for this. I also have not said that I expect this girl to never live a normal life, or course she will, she’s so young and has a long road ahead of her. I did say, however, that I look at her playing softball and carrying on as if nothing has happened. Instead of playing softball, why isn’t she somewhere making a speech about the wreck that took her friends life? About the consequences of the decision that THEY chose? It just seems to me that nobody is making her understand just how bad this entire situation really is. I think, and I could be completely off key here but I feel this is the way a lot of people think, that she is under the understanding that this is just some teenage mistake that she’s made and it’ll just go away. Chalk it up to being a teenager, “that’s what kids do” kind of thing, and that’s in no way what this is. As far as you karma statement, I never said that this girl is going to die because of what happened. There’s no way of knowing what, if anything, will ever happen. Maybe her karma will be people judging her for the remainder of her life?? Maybe her karma will be that one day she’ll realize how stupid of a decision they both made that night and she’ll actually want to do something positive with her life, instead of acting as if things are they way they were before the accident. For the record, no I do not have kids. I was married for almost 8 years before my husband passed away and we didn’t get that opportunity, but that doesn’t mean that I’m a heartless woman who knows nothing about kids and the way they think, we were all kids once. I’ve done stupid things in my life that I’m not proud of, but I learned from my mistakes and those that were bad enough, I preach to other kids about. And WHAT, do tell, is it about you people saying all the time when you read a post that you don’t like, that the writer doesn’t know God or has no religion? Nothing in any post I have ever written has in any way shown that I have no religion and I know nothing about religion. Yes God forgives but shouldn’t you repent for your sins? Show me where she has even begun to do such?? Regardless, this is a post about a girl who was one of TWO that made a very stupid decision and drink and drive, and this girl lived through a horrific wreck. This is a post where people either agree with the way this entire case has been handled, or they disagree with it. I, along with a few others, disagree. A sentence is a sentence and just as another person had posted previously, if softball is this girls’ therapy, then lets’ just let ALL the convicted people out of jail for recreational sports why don’t we? I don’t understand why she is any different than any other person who has been sentenced by a judge. I also think that she should never be given her drivers license because of the decision she made that night. Not being biased I assure you, I think any person convicted of DUI should have their license revoked, permanently! We’re giving these people the weapon of their choice to kill people, a beer and a license to drive. Would be just like handing a gun to a person who shot and killed someone else. Same difference.
And hopefully the Karma comment is not suggesting that u think this girl is going to die for what she did, looks like u are the one who needs to find the religion here, in my religion it is possible to find at any point because our god forgives but obviously you know nothing about that!
First of all Conway Gal, shame on you for saying such things about someone and something you know nothing about. The fact is that though this girl did make a horrible decision, so did her friend! I am sure that this girl did no hold a gun to her friends head and say get in this car with me! They were both out drinking and made a bad decision to drive, but people like you do not see that side of the story! That being said if she had killed an innocent driver in the crash i would feel much differen. But she didnt, her and her friend made a bad decision together that unfortunately led to a very bad situation. Im all for this girl living a normal life while on probation! As a part of her probation she also has to speak in front of her peers on drinking and driving and the consequences that follow! I think that with her best friend gone and all the other things she is dealing with, she has more than learned her lesson! I dont know if u have kids or not but if u do think about how u would feel if ur kid and one of his/her friends made the same decision with the same result, would you be so groosum toward ur kid (the driver) if so then hopefully u dont have any! By no means do i think what she did was right and i am very sympathetic to both families, but the sad truth is they were both guilty, you cant point the finger at one person just because she happened to be driving! What if this girl would have died and the passenger lived, would you say she got what she deserved, because thats pretty much what you are saying in your post! People need to look at both sides of story here, neither made the right choice, but neither made a worse choice than the other! There is no reason to think that another 17 y/o life should be taken away for the bad choice they both made!
Ajax27, The wreck happened in Loris, not on the NC/SC border….and a NC Hwy Patrol did not work the wreck! Taylor failed 2 brethalyzer test given by a SC Hwy Patrol, blood was drawn at a NC hospital were she was flown her B.A.L. was .15
Conway Gal, well said.
Conway Gal, here is the “problem with the evidence”.... the wreck happened near the SC/NC border and was handled by NC Highway Patrol. They did a breathalyzer test instead of a blood alcohol test. And in SC, breathalyzer tests are not admissable as evidence in court. So no, no lawyer was paid to “lose evidence”. the police and prosecutors keep the evidence, not the defense attorneys.
She got probation because it was a negotiated plea. Which means that the solicitor who is doing all the barking in this case is the very one who recommended probation to the judge.
I cannot help but look at that child with such anger and bitterness towards her for taking the life of someone else and yet she stands in a softball game as if nothing has happened. I do not understand why she was only given 6 months probation to begin with. What sort of “problems with evidence” were there? The fact that probably her parents paid a lawyer to “lose” blood alcohol levels? I’ve seen that done before so don’t think it’s not possible. Or is somebody not doing their job correctly and so now we have a GIRL who chose to drink and drive and ended up killing someone on probation for 6 months, and when that’s finished she’ll be right back out partying with her friends. Nothing will have been accomplished. We always hear that WE, the adults, are the role models for the children, however what do you think they think of us when we only give them a small slap on the wrist for such hideous crimes? My opinion this girl should’ve been in jail for a very long time. If she ever got out she’d NOT be able to obtain a drivers license and she’d be on some sort of probation where her alcohol levels are checked. That seems harsh I know, but imagine if this was you. Imagine if this was YOUR best friend that you killed in an auto accident b/c you chose to drink and drive. Wouldn’t you feel so ashamed of yourself?? Wouldn’t you torment YOURSELF enough to not WANT to drink at all? It’s so sad seeing this girl out and about still doing the things she loves to do although she took someone else’s life! She has taken no responsibility at all for her actions. I’m sure she stood in front of the judge and cried her little heart out and wept about how sorry she was for everything that has happened, but truth be told I’d have tried to do and say anything that I thought would get me out of trouble, if I had no conscience. But I do. I couldn’t sleep at night knowing my actions and my decisions took the life of another, regardless if it was someone I knew or not. I would be your WORST nightmare if I knew you and found you were drinking and driving. I would tell you about my story and how utterly stupid and childish it was of me to get behind that wheel that night. I would NOT however, go to softball games and carry on with my life as if nothing has changed. I would always carry my friend’s death around with me as a burden on my shoulders. I would always look over my shoulder wherever I went for that Karma that is sure to catch up with me. Sadly alot of people get away with crimes like this, yet all we care about are the things that are not so important. I read a story about a fire in aynor, or so I thought the story was going to be about a fire in aynor, when in reality it was a story of a family fued. How is that news and why should we care who in that family is fighting each other? That’s of no concern to anybody but that family. We always worry about things that are better left alone to work themselves out or things that are not as important as getting criminals (this girl included) off of our streets so we can have a better community, a better city, and overall a better state. We are always the brunt end of jokes it seems and I’ve never figured out why until I started reading the newspaper online. I’ve read gossip, I’ve read racist remarks, I’ve read some of the most hateful comments in these online posts throughout the time I’ve been reading the news online. We are the ones that are turning on each other and brining alot of this hate to our city and we are the ones that are allowing criminals to walk free allowing more people and tourists to be mugged, robbed, even killed. Most of the people that go to jail are there for a reason, so why should we let them out BEFORE their appointed time is up? Why shouldn’t they have to serve a full sentence in jail? B/c they find jailhouse religion? PLEASE!! Alot of people claim they found religion when they were in jail, but did they ever find the reason to STOP being criminals?? Did they find the answer to make their life better instead of making a living by selling drugs, or stealing, or even killing people? No. And why is that? B/c we are so lenient towards the criminals here. Well I say it’s time to stop. Make people PAY for the crimes they commit instead of letting them stay in a room overnight just to be released back into the public to keep continuing the trend that they seem to enjoy.
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