Man accused in fatal crash on Nexton Parkway almost back in jail | News

SUMMERVILLE – A man awaiting trial in a 2020 traffic crash that killed a retired elementary school teacher and her family is back in jail after committing traffic-related offenses.

Joshua Wessell was released on a reckless homicide bond when he was arrested and charged with property crimes in late August. He is accused of hitting and breaking the side mirror of a man’s vehicle during a confrontation in a parking lot, according to an arrest warrant.

Wessell has been out of bond since the October 2020 fatal crash on Nexton Parkway outside the Del Webb Nexton development.

His trial was postponed year after year as judges repeatedly accepted defense motions to delay court dates due to medical emergencies, pregnancies and an unavailable witness. The Post and Courier reported in October 2023 that his trial was scheduled for early 2024. Now prosecutors indicate the trial may take place next year.

The crash killed Meredith Freeman, 74; Chad Freeman, 49; and Andrea Freeman, 48.

A judge revoked Wessell’s bond on Oct. 8 — nearly four years after the date of the crash — for 30 days due to the August arrest and his four traffic violation convictions from 2021 to January 2023.

In the arrest warrant for the August charge of malicious damage to property valued at $2,000 or less, police said he admitted to the incident in the parking lot at the Publix in Cane Bay. He allegedly told the victim, “You are my name,” when asked his name. The victim, his wife and their newborn baby were in the car when Wessell struck their car. A police officer stopped Wessell after he left the area.

The arrest in August prompted prosecutors to review his driving record since the fatal 2020 crash. They discovered he had been convicted of following too closely, twice of careless or negligent driving and of driving 25 miles per hour over the speed limit. Less than a year after the crash that killed Meredith Freeman, her son and her daughter-in-law, Wessell was convicted of driving about 100 mph in a 65 mph zone.

In the Oct. 11, 2020, crash, Wessell is accused of crashing into the Freemans’ vehicle at about 75 mph in a 60 mph zone, court records show. Meredith Freeman rode with her son and daughter-in-law that day. She was planning to build a house in the Del Webb development and had just gone over the floor plans and signed the papers just before the crash.

According to the South Carolina Highway Patrol, Wessell T-boned the family’s vehicle as they turned left onto Brighton Park Boulevard from Nexton Parkway. All three died on the spot. Wessell suffered minor injuries.

Wessell was driving his Jeep Wrangler with a dashboard camera at the time of the crash, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Young’s request to revoke Wessell’s bond. Wessell removed the camera and did not give it to police, Young wrote. Video from the camera made its way to social media.

A trooper confronted Wessell, Wessell’s father and Wessell’s attorney the night of the crash and retrieved the footage, Young wrote. Wessell also told police he knew he was going over the posted speed limit, Young wrote. Wessell was 18 years old at the time.

The Freeman family has filed a wrongful death claim against Berkeley County. Their civil suit alleges the county failed to maintain landscaping along the roadway, which contributed to the accident by obstructing sight lines. The case has been referred to arbitration, according to court records.

For years, residents of Del Webb had asked Berkeley County to install a traffic light at the intersection where the Freemans were killed. One was installed in 2022. The Post and Courier previously reported that Del Webb residents have long expressed concerns about the high volume of traffic on Nexton Parkway. Millions of dollars in improvements are underway and planned along Nexton Parkway, according to a map of Berkeley County’s ongoing and future capital improvement projects.

Wessell’s trial is expected to take place in January 2025, 9th Attorney Scarlett Wilson said in an email.

If Wessell is convicted of reckless homicide, he faces up to 10 years in prison and a license suspension for five years on each charge.