More than a dozen people killed within the bounds of Clarendon County during the calendar year of 2016 were honored Saturday at a memorial service held by the South Carolina Department of Public Safety in Columbia.
The service, which was held at Bible Way Church on Atlas Road in Columbia, drew hundreds of family members and friends of the more than 1,000 people killed in 2016 vehicle wrecks on South Carolina roadways.
Overall, seventeen individuals died on Clarendon roadways in 2016, the majority of them perishing on the 30-mile section of Interstate 95 that passes through the county. Those honored at Saturday's ceremony included both out-of-state and hometown fatalities on Clarendon roads.
They included Daron Knight, 45, a Clarendon native living in Columbia, who died in October in nearby Sumter County in a wreck there after allegedly attempting to pass another vehicle and colliding head-on with a tractor trailer truck.
Also included were 48-year-old Stephen Shaw of Florence and 22-year-old Jarek Burke of Cresco, Iowa, who both died from injuries received in a head-on wreck at the 109 northbound mile-marker on Interstate 95.
The ceremony also honored 80-year-old John Morrison of Manning, who died on Telegraph Road after his 2014 Chrysler mini-van left the roadway and struck a tree.
Also honored was a 60-year-old Florida man whose fatal wreck put more than 5,820 residents in Clarendon County in the dark. According to reports, Timothy Payne of St. Augustine, Florida, ran off the road and struck a utility pole in late September 2016, causing power outages for several hours after the wreck.
Also remembered was Wesley "Kee" Evans, who died in mid-July after wrecking in the early morning on U.S. 521 in the area of the old Ervin's Tire shop. Evans, 20, was a graduate of Clarendon Hall.
Phillip Titus Mallett, who died May 25, 2016, was also included. Mallett was traveling on a moped that was hit on S.C. 261 by a 2003 Lexus. Likewise, Summerton resident Nancy Gibson was also remembered. Gibson died in mid-May when the van in which she was riding ran off the side of Luke Godwin Road and struck an embankment.
South Florence High School Coach Michelle Hickson was also honored and remembered. The 38-year-old Florence woman was thrown from the Lake Marion Bridge after being hit by a vehicle, and authorities later established the wreck had killed her, not the water. Highway Patrol troopers believe Hickson lost control of her own vehicle and hit a guardrail. She was standing outside the vehicle, according to witnesses, when her vehicle was struck in oncoming traffic and pushed off the bridge.
Bible Way Church assistant Pastor Randall "Mack" Jackson delivered the message during Saturday's ceremony, while state Department of Public Service Director Leroy Smith and South Carolina Transport Police Col. Leroy Taylor, an elder at Bible Way, offered words of comfort and condolences to the families.
The annual service has been held since 1988 to remember residents and visitors who have lost their lives on South Carolina's highways; to bring together families and friends of those deceased; and to educate the public in an effort to prevent future loss of life on the state's roads.
“For the last 30 years, this ceremony has offered an opportunity for families and friends to come together and remember the lives of those tragically lost on our highways,” Smith said. “SCDPS and its safety partners continue to focus on our mission of Target Zero in hopes that no other family will have to experience the pain of losing a loved one due to a traffic collision.”
