Nancy moore thurmond killed by drunk driver

COLUMBIA - A tearful Corrinne Koenig was sentenced Wednesday to two years in prison for vehicular involuntary manslaughter in the death of U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond's daughter.

Koenig, 36, who had originally been charged with felony driving under the influence and reckless homicide, entered a last-minute guilty plea to the lesser charge just before lawyers were to present opening arguments to the jury.

Koenig's decision not to take her case to the jury followed a series of rulings against her by Circuit Judge Ralph King Anderson, including allowing prosecutors to tell jurors that Koenig had a blood alcohol level of 0.16, well above the .10 level considered resonable evidence of impairment.

Koenig's car struck and killed Nancy Moore Thurmond, a 22-year-old student at the University of South Carolina, at about 10:30 p.m. April 13, as she jaywalked across a busy downtown street. Fifth Circuit Solicitor Dick Harpootlian said Miss Thu