COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - Toxicology results from the Richland County Coroner's Office indicate the four people killed in a fiery crash in January on George Rogers Boulevard were heavily intoxicated.
According to Coroner Gary Watts, the driver of the vehicle, Brian McGrath, had a blood-alcohol level of .157. The legal limit in South Carolina is .08.
The three passengers also had high levels of alcohol in their bloodstreams. Kelsey Harris' had a BAC of .192, Melinda Pipp registered a .136, and Billings Fuess IV measured in at .160.
Harris and McGrath were USC students and Fuess was a former student.
Watts says the victims also had evidence of marijuana in their systems.
The group was seen together at a couple of local nightspots prior to the collision, Watts said. They left The Wild Hare Sports Cafe, where Pipp was an employee, after midnight to go to another location. They were seen leaving together in McGrath's vehicle from another nightspot called Uncle Fester's sometime after 3:30 a.m.
Police said three of the passengers were not wearing seatbelts. Investigators could not determine if the fourth person was restrained.
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