Motorcycle rider dies crash in Fairfield Co, SC: Official

A 23-year-old Midlands man was killed in a motorcycle crash over the weekend, the Fairfield County Coroner’s Office said Monday.

Benaiah Lawson was killed in the two-vehicle collision that Fairfield County Coroner Chris Hill called an accident in a news release.

The Winnsboro resident hit another vehicle at about 4:30 p.m. Sunday at the intersection of 9th Street and U.S. 321, according to the release. That’s in Winnsboro, across the street from Fairfield Central High School.

Lawson was riding a motorcycle that was heading north on U.S. 321 when he crashed into a vehicle that was turning off 9th Street onto the bypass, Hill said.

Lawson was taken to a Prisma Health hospital in Richland County, where he died, according to the release.

No other injuries were reported by the coroner’s office.

Information was not available if Lawson was wearing a helmet.

There was no word on possible criminal charges, but the wreck is being investigated by the Winnsboro Department of Public Safety, South Carolina Highway Patrol, and the coroner’s office.

Through Friday afternoon, 97 motorcycle riders are among the 876 people that have been killed on South Carolina roads in 2020, according to the Department of Public Safety.

Lawson was at least the 13th person killed in an Fairfield County crash in 2020, and the third motorcycle rider, according to DPS.