A grieving White County father was arrested while trying to fix the road where his teenage daughter was killed (video below).
Cecily Mcree Hamilton, 16, and driver Taylor Scott Swing, 18, of Cleveland, died March 15 in a wreck on Gene Nix Road in Cleveland when the car went off the shoulder and submerged in a creek.
Shannon Hamilton, Cecily’s father, watched as police pulled the car out of the river below the bridge. “I gave her a kiss and told her I loved her. Hugged her freezing body and said goodbye,” he told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
According to Hamilton, the teens would not have died had there been a guardrail on the side of the bridge. Local officials agreed with the theory but said that plans to build the guardrail were awaiting approval. But Hamilton felt progress was too slow, and he became worried that he’d have to witness another car being pulled from the river.
That’s when Cecily’s grieving father decided to take a proactive approach to the situation to make sure it wouldn’t happen again, but things didn’t end the way he’d expected.
Hamilton started building the rails himself so that what happened to his daughter and her friend wouldn’t be so likely to happen again. There would at least be a visual sign marking the side of the bridge.
Authorities didn’t appreciate Hamilton’s efforts, apparently. He was arrested on charges that haven’t been decided yet. The current reason is interference with government property, according to reports.
Opposing Views added:
After being released on bail, Hamilton received support from the local community.
Hamilton insisted he did not want to break the law but felt compelled to protect other families from experiencing what happened to him.
He also began speaking at Cecily’s high school about safe driving as a way to cope with what he went through.
“Tomorrow’s never promised,” he said. “It’s the way I’m grieving, and I’m staying positive to get through the days.”
Watch the entire arrest footage here: AmericaFuckYeah/Youtube
Sources: OpposingViews, WSB-TV, Gainesville Times
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