Man Sentenced to Prison for Fatal DUI

Jose Ismael Alejos, 61, of Pickens, was sentenced to 12 years in the South Carolina Department of Corrections after pleading guilty on September 18, 2025, to DUI resulting in death for a head-on collision that killed 82-year-old Margaret Kelley. On June 1, 2023, Alejos veered into oncoming traffic on Gentry Memorial Highway while impaired by Xanax, as confirmed by a blood test during the South Carolina Highway Patrol investigation, striking Kelley’s SUV and causing her fatal injuries at the scene.