The arrest of a grieving father at the bridge where his daughter died boosted donations to the scholarship fund he established in her name.
A fatal accident on the Gene Nix Road Bridge on March 14 claimed the lives of 16-year-old Cecily Hamilton and 18-year-old Taylor Scott Swing. Cecily’s father, Shannon Hamilton, attempted to add some gravel berms at the bridge on Sunday but was arrested for interference with government property.
The video of his arrest, seen more than 3.5 million times, brought thousands of visitors to the #bringit4cec site and donations streaming into the scholarship fund. Shannon Hamilton and Josh Poole (Cecily’s father and stepfather) hope to give out $50,000 in college aid to qualifying students in White County. According to numbers on the site, they’ve reached 45% of that goal in donations in just the past few days.
White County installs concrete barriers at Gene Nix Rd Bridge
Workers in White County placed large concrete barriers along the length of Gene Nix Bridge on Wednesday. County leaders say they’ve received an engineering safety study for the site and will begin installing permanent guardrails along the bridge soon.
Shannon Hamilton says making the bridge safer was his only goal and he’s pleased with the barriers that went up on Wednesday, “This is what #bringit4cec is all about,” he says. The charges against Hamilton for interference with government property still stand.
