South Carolina woman killed when car runs off road and flips over, coroner says

A Midlands woman was killed Saturday night when the car she was driving ran off the road, hit a tree and flipped over, South Carolina officials said.

Ashli Gantt, a 23-year-old Orangeburg resident, died in the accident, Aiken County Coroner Darryl Ables said Sunday.

The single-vehicle collision happened at about 10:45 p.m. on Wagener Trail Road, according to Master Trooper Mitchell Ridgeway of the South Carolina Highway Patrol.

Gantt was driving a 2006 Nissan northeast on Wagener Trail Road when the vehicle ran off the right side of the road near the intersection with Shadow Lane Road, Ridgeway said.

The vehicle overcorrected then veered back onto and across the road before going off the left side, according to Ridgeway. That’s where it crashed into a tree, ran down an embankment and flipped over, Ables said.

Gantt, who was not wearing a seat belt, suffered blunt force injuries and died at the scene, according to Ables.

The coroner said that Gantt was the only person in the Nissan, and no other injuries were reported.

Information about what originally caused the Nissan to veer off the road was not available, but the collision continues to be investigated by the Highway Patrol and coroner’s office. Toxicology analysis is pending.

Through March 19, at least 184 people had died on South Carolina roads 184 people had died on South Carolina roads in 2023, according to the state Department of Public Safety. Last year, 1,081 people died in crashes in South Carolina, DPS reported.

At least seven people have died in Aiken County crashes in 2023, according to DPS data. Last year, 29 deaths were reported in the county, DPS reported.