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REP. HILL'S SON, 16, DIES IN 280 WRECK

Note:

What if the Trailer Did not Roll onto the Vehicle?


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Birmingham News (AL)

July 29, 1994

Section: NEWS
Page: 01-01

Topics:
Index Terms:
JON MICHAEL HILL, TRAFFIC VICTIM

REP. HILL'S SON, 16, DIES IN 280 WRECK
Author: Nancy Wilstach News staff writer

Article Text:

An accident Thursday morning on U.S. 280 claimed the life of Jon Michael Hill, 16, the son of state Rep. Mike Hill, R-Columbiana.

The youth, who would have been in the 11th grade this fall at Shelby County High School, was driving a 1990 Oldsmobile west on U.S. 280 as an Alabama Power Co. truck hauling a trailer loaded with utility poles apparently crossed the highway ahead of him, according to authorities.

Police said the truck was on Old Highway 280 near Chesser Drive in the Chelsea area. Alabama state troopers said an investigation continues into the accident. Shelby County Coroner Jack Jones said Hill had turned 16 in June and had had his driver's license only a short time. Hill, Page 2D Page 1D Jones said the youth died instantly when the trailer apparently rolled over his car and crushed it.

The impact appeared to be at the hitch, Jones said, and the trailer was knocked loose. ""It looked like it just rolled right over the car,'' he said.

Shelby County Sheriff's Capt. Chris Curry said Hill was going from Columbiana to the Inverness area.

""When he failed to arrive, his parents became concerned, and (Mrs. Hill) set out to follow his route,'' Curry said. Emergency workers and deputies were at the wreck, he said, when they saw her approaching and kept her back from the scene.

""It was just a horrible, horrible thing,'' Curry said.

Beverly Hall, principal of Shelby County High, said Hill was an honor student and ""an outstanding, a very talented artist. To know him was to love him.''

The family is setting up a memorial scholarship at Shelby County High for a student interested in art.

Hill had been by the school a short time before he was killed, she said, to pick up a summer reading list.

Denton Scott, Inverness Country Club manager, said Hill was a lifeguard at the club's pool. Upon word of his death, the pool was closed Thursday afternoon.

The Alabama Power truck was driven by Robert B. Williams, 37, of Jemison, a lineman in the company's Montevallo office, company spokesman Dave Rickey said. Rickey said the trailer was hauling five poles ranging in length from 35 to 55 feet.

""It was such a tragic accident,'' Rickey said. ""Our prayers and thoughts are with the Hill family.''

Caption:
NEWS STAFF PHOTO/JOE SONGER Rescue workers work to
untangle the wreckage of an accident that killed Jon Michael Hill.

Copyright (c) 1994 Birmingham News
Record Number: 9402090912

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