Spartanburg, SC man pleads guilty to reckless homicide in high speed crash that killed his daughter

 Tuesday, May 26, 2015

GAFFNEY, SC

A Spartanburg man stopped for speeding just hours before a crash that killed his 2-year-old daughter pleaded guilty to reckless homicide. 

Judge Keith Kelly sentenced Curtis Gray McCraw, 27, to the maximum 10-year sentence, suspended upon the service of seven years and five years of probation on Tuesday.

Sadie McCraw was in a booster seat — not an appropriate child-restraint seat for a child her age — when McCraw crashed around 4:15 p.m. on Nov. 11.

Solicitor Barry Barnette told Kelly that Sadie McCraw’s skull was fractured in the crash, and she died from blunt force trauma.

McCraw’s two other young children also were in the vehicle. A grandmother said the other children — now 5 and 6 years old — also were hurt and live with the memory of their sister’s fatal injury.

Barnette said McCraw was driving at a high rate of speed when he ran off the road, struck a traffic sign and hit a tree.

McCraw’s exact speed is unknown. He tested positive for marijuana and Klonopin, a drug used to treat seizures and panic disorders. Barnette said officers also found Xanax in the vehicle.

McCraw had been stopped for speeding earlier that day — he was driving 83 miles an hour — almost 30 miles over the speed limit.

Sadie’s mother, Nicole, asked Kelly for mercy. The couple are still together and expecting another child.

Nicole McCraw and several others told Kelly that McCraw was a good father who was active in his children’s lives and that he changed after the fatal crash.

McCraw’s attorney, Josh Schultz, told Kelly that McCraw called Sadie “his little princess,” and he would forever be haunted with regret over her loss.