Woman killed on Hwy. 25 while walking last Friday
A pedestrian was killed late Friday after she was struck by a vehicle near the intersection of Highway 25 and Sweetwater Road, officials reported.
Cathy Barnes, 51, of Graniteville, died from multiple body trauma about 11:43 p.m.
Witnesses told officials the woman had been at a bar with a friend that evening before she began walking along Highway 25 in Aiken County and was struck by a northbound late model Ford Explorer driven by a Trenton man, John Whisnant.
"He will not be charged in this cash and was not at fault," said Aiken County Coroner Tim Carlton.
He did not know the woman, officials said.
The circumstances surrounding the woman's death and what made her walk along the roadway were being investigated by the Aiken County Sheriff's Office and the S.C. Highway Patrol.
This is the 12th fatal crash in Aiken County in 2009, Carlton said.
Completion of the investigation Monday, along with autopsy findings revealed that her death was accidental, the coroner added.
Barnes was one of five people killed on South Carolina highways during the 78-hour Memorial Day holiday weekend, which ran from Friday at 6 p.m. until Monday at 11:59 p.m.
Other fatal crashes occurred in Fairfield, Berkeley, Clarendon and Florence counties.
Three of those killed were pedestrians, One was a bicyclist, the S.C. Highway Patrol reported.
Traditionally, the holiday weekend is one of the deadliest on both state and national roadways.
Statewide the numbers were down this year, officials reported.
Ten people died during the Memorial Day weekend in 2008.
In 2007, a total of 20 people died during the same time period, the S.C. Highway Patrol reports.
As of Monday, 325 people had died on South Carolina highways, compared with 397 last year at this time.
State troopers say Memorial Day weekend is that start of what has become the 100 deadly days of summer, when more motorists are on state highways and more celebrations involve alcohol and long travel days.
The death was not officially reported until Tuesday. Her death was not reported in the preliminary numbers released by the S.C. Highway Patrol on Monday.
