Hopkins died on her daughter's birthday. She was struck by Joyce Marie Hall, a cancer patient, who lost control of her vehicle while trying to pour a beer into her feeding tube. Hall was convicted of two counts of felony drunk-driving in September and was sentenced to seven years in prison.
Daughters Carol Oakley and Betty Stevens and nephew Ryan Blackman received the plaque in memory of Hopkins from Cpl. James Horton of the Bennettsville Police Department and the Law Enforcement Network of the Fourth Judicial Circuit.
Julie McGee of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) attended the ceremony along with network law enforcement officers.
Oakley, whose birthday marks her mother's death, lauded the network, MADD and Horton for the care and honor they showed the victim's family.
”This really shows a lot of respect for those who were taken from their families because of lack of responsibility and stupidity of those who chose to drink and drive,“ she said.
The event was the second drunk driving victim honored by the network in a new program funded with a $19,000 Traffic Enforcement Grant from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to concentrate on traffic safety and DUI in Darlington County.
According to the South Carolina Office of Highway Safety, the state has the second highest collision fatality rate in the nation per vehicle miles traveled with more than 50 percent of those accidents related to DUI. Darlington County has the highest in the Fourth Judicial Circuit, which is comprised of Chesterfield, Darlington, Dillon, Marion and Marlboro counties.
At the Oct. 1 checkpoint, six arrests were made for driving under suspension and two arrests were made for driving under the influence.
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