Shocking footage shows the moment a popular South Carolina youngster was killed by a utility pole that came loose – and now her family is planning to sue for $100 million after the “decaying” pole fell on top of her.
Surveillance footage captured the moment a trailer drove past 31-year-old Jeunelle Robinson in the small town of Wagener, South Carolina, jamming a number of overhead power lines and knocking down eight poles.
Robinson, who was starting her sophomore year at Wagener-Salley High School, was on her lunch break when the video showed her walking across the street when the pole slammed into her.
She lay motionless on the ground as the pole swayed from side to side during the August 23 incident.
Jeunelle’s parents will advocate for change in how big corporations treat citizens in rural areas, where they use our small population as a justification for not upgrading our equipment and shed light on the massive inequality in infrastructure that plagues our rural areas. suffered for far too long. ’ says family attorney Justin Bamberg.
Jeunelle Robinson, 31, taught at Wagener-Salley High School for just over a year
She was killed when she went to eat a sandwich during her lunch break in the small town of Wagener and was hit by an errant power pole
“Companies with more money than South Carolina itself left loving parents, siblings, relatives, friends, students, teachers and administrators with a void that can never be filled,” Bamberg said.
‘Mrs. Robinson would still be with us if the big utilities had decided to treat rural South Carolina fairly.”
Her family plans to sue for $100 million in damages, $20 million for local energy infrastructure, and a $10 million trust for an annual scholarship for student teachers in Robinson’s name.
They say the utility poles were decades old, neglected and never replaced.
Robinson’s father, Donovan Julian, told a press conference that his daughter herself had struggled at school as a child and loved her students.
“She was taken too early and was a delight,” he added.
“She wasn’t a quitter and she loved those kids. She would say they were her children.’
The South Carolina Highway Patrol is investigating the case and no one has been charged.
Local energy supplier Dominion Energy expressed its “deepest condolences” to the family in a statement, but said it is “too early to provide related details” given the ongoing investigation.
The city’s mayor, Michael Miller, 69, told a public gathering that the posts were so old he recognized a bottle cap he had nailed into them as an 8 or 9-year-old boy.
Bamberg, a state legislature representative, said the eight posts spanned an area “perhaps as long as a football field,” and that one was last inspected in 2014.
Surveillance footage captured her last steps and the pole that crashed on top of her
She fell to the ground and lay motionless after being hit by the post
The pole swayed and Robinson was later rushed to hospital, where she was pronounced dead
The incident knocked down eight posts in an area ‘as long as a football field’
Mayor Michael Miller, 69, said some poles had been standing since he was a child
The school said Robinson’s death devastated everyone who knew her.
“Some of the posts were over 60 years old and had been in need of replacement for over a decade,” he added.
“Completely avoidable situation.”
A statement from the school said Robinson’s death devastated everyone who knew her.
“Over the past year, she befriended countless colleagues and developed meaningful relationships with many of our students,” the report said.
“She was sincere and kind to everyone she met, her time here feels way too short.”