Lexington Woman Accused of Taking Funds from Cancer Patient

Deputies arrested a 34-year-old Lexington woman Thursday and charged her with misappropriating nearly $2,000 in proceeds from a beauty pageant.

Kelli Jean Chavis, 34, helped organize a beauty pageant to raise money for Richard Culliver, a Lexington boy battling brain cancer, according to the Lexington County Sheriff's Department. The pageant was held March 17.

Deputies say that Chavis began collecting donations and fees in February for the pageant that was held the next month at a hotel on Saluda Pointe Court. 

All proceeds from the beauty pageant were intended to be donated to Culliver’s family in order to help pay the boy’s medical bills, according to the sheriff's department. Deputies say Chavis transferred $1,875 from a PayPal account that she set up to receive fees and donations for the to her personal bank account.

Chavis then used the money for personal expenses, such as food and alcohol, according to the sheriff's department. Culliver’s family has not received any money from Chavis. 

Culliver’s mother, Stephanie Marie McMillan, reported the misappropriation of 
proceeds from the pageant fundraiser to the sheriff’s department on May 7, according to the sheriff's department.

McMillan told deputies that Chavis wrote in an April 24 e-mail that she planned to send a PayPal card to McMillan, according to the sheriff's department. McMillan never received the PayPal card.

Chavis was arrested and charged with breach of trust with fraudulent intent. She was released from the Lexington County Detention Center Friday after posting bond.