A semi driver who crashed into the back of a woman’s vehicle on Interstate 20, smashing her vehicle into a dump truck and causing a 10-vehicle pileup, was sentenced Friday, Feb. 4., to one year in jail.
Royce K. Smith, 27, of Salem, Ala., pleaded guilty in Columbia County Superior Court to homicide by vehicle in the second degree, a misdemeanor, in the Sept. 29, 2020, traffic crash that killed Brenda Anderson, 54, of Grovetown.
Anderson and many other vehicles were stopped near mile marker 181 because of another fatal traffic crash on the interstate that occurred an hour and a half earlier. A vehicle driven by two Fulton County Sheriff deputies smashed into the back of a semi also stopped on Interstate 20 near the Lewistown Road exit in Grovetown.
Smith, driving a semi-tractor trailer for Ryno Trucking Inc., was charged with the misdemeanor homicide, and following too closely. Assistant District Attorney Kevin Majeska said Friday that during the investigation of the crash Smith was found to have no drugs or alcohol in his system and phone records proved he wasn’t on his phone before the crash occurred.
Anderson’s family did not feel a misdemeanor adequately represented what occurred, but the only crime Smith committed was a misdemeanor, Majeska said.
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“That was the worse day of my life,” said Carl Anderson Sr. He had just missed a call from his wife, asking if he was interested in lunch. He called back, repeatedly, but didn’t get an answer. A Columbia County coroner and two sheriff deputies came to their home. “I lost my wife and my best friend,” he said.
Beenda Anderson’s daughter, Brandy Litwinski, also lost her best friend she told the judge. She was pregnant at the time with her mother’s first female grandchild. Her mother was so excited, Litwinski said.
Anderson’s brother, Charlie Coleman, told the judge she had been the core of the family, the one who brought everyone together. He and the rest of her family asked Chief Judge James G. Blanchard Jr. to impose the maximum penalty possible, even though it wasn’t enough. “He knew the dangers of that 18-wheeler,” Coleman said.
Smith was deeply sorry for what happened. He told the family he prays every day knowing he killed someone. Smith, who had no prior criminal record, gave up his professional license after the crash.
Blanchard sentenced Smith to the maximum one-year penalty. Smith was taken into custody Friday.
Carl Anderson filed a wrongful death lawsuit in federal court against the trucking company that employed Smith. A settlement was reached last May.
Sandy Hodson is a staff reporter covering courts for The Augusta Press. Reach her at sandy@theaugustapress.com.
