Fishers teenager sentenced to 25 years in prison after accident with three fatalities

SPARTANBURG COUNTY, SC — There was great excitement in a South Carolina courtroom on Monday.

“This was not a perfect storm of random events,” Maci Walts said. “It was an evil act and it cost them their lives.”

Walts was the sole survivor of a wrong-way driving accident that killed three Fishers teenagers: Brianna Foster and twin sisters Elle and Belle Gaddis.

At the sentencing, the family expressed their sadness and anger at Melissa Ann Parker, who pleaded guilty to several crimes, including driving while under the influence of alcohol causing death.

“I never thought people could be so cruel. That someone would hit a car full of innocent people and then, instead of looking after them or helping them, they would run away like cowards and ignore the cries for help,” said Hailey Foster, Brianna's sister.

It was 2021 when the Gaddis twins Foster and Walts took a road trip to a beach in South Carolina to say goodbye to summer. According to police, 43-year-old Parker collided head-on with the teenagers' car on a highway. The Hummer she was driving had been stolen. Parker was driving 70 miles per hour. After the accident, she ran away.

Walts survived the impact.

“I remember sobbing in the back of the ambulance because I didn't know where my friends were,” Walts said Monday.

Parker received the maximum sentence on Monday, 25 years in prison and a $75,000 fine. She will be given credit for time already served.

“I wish she could stay there longer, but at least I feel better knowing she won't be able to hurt anyone for the next 21 years,” Walts said.

“I understand that this is the maximum sentence, but I don't think that's enough time. I think she should die in prison,” said Hailey's mother, Jodi Foster.

Justice, they said, does not seem to have been done.

“Unhappy is an understatement,” said Andy Gaddis, the twins' father. “The truth is, I feel closest to my girls when I'm in that trench. That's the reality of this life.”