A South Carolina community is mourning a 12-year-old girl who was killed in a horrifying accident outside a church just hours after attending a funeral there.
Kantori Chestnut, of Loris, was struck by a 2026 Nissan Rogue in the parking lot of Cedar Branch Missionary Baptist Church on Wednesday night, Sept. 16, according to the South Carolina Highway Patrol.
The tragedy unfolded shortly before 10 p.m. at the church on Cedar Branch Road in Horry County.
Horry County Fire Rescue said crews were dispatched at approximately 9:53 p.m. after receiving reports that a vehicle had struck a building and multiple people. Three people were taken to the hospital, including one person who was initially listed in critical condition.
The agency’s original response information can be found in its Facebook post about the crash.
South Carolina Highway Patrol Master Trooper William Bennett said the Nissan was backing up on private property at about 9:59 p.m. when it struck Kantori and then hit part of the church.
Kantori and the driver were both taken to a hospital. Kantori later died from her injuries, according to Horry County Chief Deputy Coroner Tamara Willard.
Authorities have not publicly identified the driver, and officials have not announced any criminal charges.
The circumstances surrounding why the SUV continued backward and struck both Kantori and the building have also not been publicly explained. The South Carolina Highway Patrol is continuing to investigate.
Making the tragedy even more heartbreaking, Kantori had attended a funeral at Cedar Branch Missionary Baptist Church earlier that day, according to the coroner. Officials have not said whose funeral she attended or what relationship she had to the person being mourned.
Kantori was a student at Loris Middle School and had been involved in recreational cheerleading for years, according to local reporting.
Cheer coach Monica Hinson told The Sun News that Kantori had been part of the program since she was around 7 or 8 years old and remembered her as an energetic child who was constantly laughing and smiling.
Friends and relatives also began posting tributes after her death, describing the 12-year-old as intelligent, beautiful and kind.
The crash happened at 744 Cedar Branch Road, the address of Cedar Branch Missionary Baptist Church near Loris, a small community in northeastern Horry County.
While Fire Rescue initially reported that three people were hospitalized, Highway Patrol has publicly confirmed that Kantori and the SUV driver were among those taken for medical treatment. Authorities have not publicly identified the third injured person or disclosed that individual’s condition.
As of Saturday, Sept. 19, investigators had not announced what caused the crash or whether traffic citations or criminal charges could follow.
For now, Highway Patrol investigators are working to determine exactly how a night already marked by grief ended with another family facing an unimaginable loss.
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