Pedestrian Killed In Hit And Run Accident While Visiting South Carolina From Kansas

Most of the time, when you visit Myrtle Beach, all you take with you when you leave is pleasant memories. Myrtle Beach has enough sunshine and a sufficiently festive atmosphere to make it an ideal location for bachelor and bachelorette parties, while remaining less costly and less menacing than Florida. If you get involved in a traffic collision during your visit to Myrtle Beach, though, you will still have unfinished business in South Carolina after you return home. The courts of South Carolina have jurisdiction to rule on lawsuits arising from accidents that happen in South Carolina. That means that, if you get injured in South Carolina and you have to file a lawsuit to get compensation for your accident-related medical bills and vehicle repairs, South Carolina is the only place you can do it. Even if the accident was a hit and run, and you do not know who hit you and therefore who was responsible for the accident, it makes sense to contact a Columbia car accident lawyer.

Two Men Struck By Car While Crossing Kings Highway On Foot

In the summer of 2025, Dezhon Overton of Kansas City, Kansas was visiting Myrtle Beach. Just after midnight one night, he and a friend were crossing Kings Highway on foot, near Williams Avenue, when a car hit them but did not stop. A witness called the police, who arranged for both men to be taken to the hospital. Overton died of his injuries, but the other pedestrian, whose name news sources did not publish, survived. Overton was 26 years old. News sources did not indicate whether the pedestrian who survived was from South Carolina or another state.

Police eventually identified the vehicle that struck the pedestrians by using license plate recognition technology, and they arrested the driver, Bryan Thomas. The state is now charging Thomas with hit and run resulting in death or bodily injury. Thomas said that he left the scene because he was afraid. He posted his $50,000 bond and is free while his case is pending.

The injured pedestrian and the surviving relatives of Dezhon Overton have the right to file civil lawsuits in connection with the accident, regardless of the outcome of the criminal case against Thomas. If he is convicted at trial or pleads guilty, it means that the civil court will automatically rule in favor of the plaintiffs. If he does not, then the civil court will decide on a case-by-case basis whether to award compensatory damages to the plaintiffs. In a personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit, the plaintiffs must show that there is a preponderance of the evidence to support their claims, whereas the standard of evidence in criminal cases is beyond a reasonable doubt.

Let Us Help You Today

The personal injury lawyers at the Stanley Law Group can help you get justice after getting injured in a hit and run accident.  Contact The Stanley Law Group in Columbia, South Carolina or call (803)799-4700 for a free initial consultation.

Sources:

wmbfnews.com/2025/08/05/warrants-reveal-new-details-about-myrtle-beach-hit-and-run/

wmbfnews.com/2025/08/04/judge-sets-bond-man-charged-deadly-myrtle-beach-hit-and-run/