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Jennifer and Michelle were twins SUMTER HIGH GRADUATE DIES AFTER WRECK- By C. S. Murphy ITEM Staff Writer- A 17 year-old former Sumter High School student died Thursday from injuries she sustained Wednesday evening when her bicycle was hit by a car on a bridge in Charleston. ¶ Jennifer Lee, a freshman at the College of Charleston, and another student were reportedly riding bicycles on the Robert B. Scarborough Bridge over the Ashley RIver at 11:20 p.m. Wednesday when they were both hit by a car driven by Heather Lee Motte, 27, of Charleston, according to the POST AND COURIER newpaper of Charleston. They were on their way to James Island. ¶ Lee reportedly fell into the windshield, which she hit with her head. The other student suffered a broken leg and multiple cuts and bruises, according to the newspaper. ¶ Charleston police said Motte was charged with two counts of felony driving under the influence, according to the newspaper. Magistrate Jack Guedalia set Motte’s bail at $10,000 and ordered that she get mental health and substance abuse counseling if she is released from jail. ¶ Lee was a daughter of Sumter urologist Robert Lee and his wife, Diana Spurgis Lee. She had two sisters, her twin Michelle Lee and her older sister, Christine Lee. ¶ Sabrina Thomas, a junior at Sumter High, said Lee was one of her dearest friends. Students at the school are having a hard time coming to grips with the tragedy, she said. Lee graduated from Sumter High School this past spring. ¶ “Everyone feels a loss,” she said. “There’s a very big emptiness at the school.” ¶ Thomas said that Jennifer’s twin, Michelle, has been affected most by the death and friends have been trying to comfort her. Michelle is a freshman at Appalachian State University. ¶ “Jenny was so beautiful and she was really interested in life,” Thomas said of Lee. “She was the most original person I knew. She could make the most boring thing so much fun.” ¶ Debbie Ardis, a secretary for the guidance office at Sumter High, worked with Lee while Lee was an aide there for two years. ¶ “She always had a big smile on her face.” Ardis said. “She was the type who just had a great outlook on life. We’ll miss her.” ¶ Lee had been a student at the College of Charleston since late August. ¶ Alex Sanders, president of the college, said that although Lee was a student there for only a short time, she was known and loved by many. ¶ “The College of Charleston is not a factory or a treadmill but an Alma Mater - a loving mother - who knows her children one by one,” he said in a written statement. “Our grief is enormous. We have lost a member of the family. The family will come together now to comfort each other.” ¶ Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 2 p. m. today at St. Anne Catholic Church. Burial will be in St. Lawrence Cemetery. ¶ The family received friends from 6 to 8 p. m. Friday at their home on Loretto Drive in Sumter. Memorials may be made to St. Anne’s Memorial Scholarship Fund. [2, 3] |
1977 - 1994 (17 years)
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