Alcolu man dies after being hit by pickup truck

By ROBERT BAKER and JASON WERMERS
Item Staff Writer and Item Content Team Leader
bbaker@theitem.com

ALCOLU — A 20-year-old Alcolu man was killed Thursday evening after being struck by a pickup truck while walking along Hotel Street, according to the South Carolina Highway Patrol.

Willie Clay Simmons Jr., 20, of 2003 Hotel St., died in the emergency room at Clarendon Memorial Hospital at 8:28 p.m. from trauma and internal bleeding, Clarendon County Deputy Coroner Charles Jackson said Friday.

According to Lance Cpl. Judd Jones of the Highway Patrol, Simmons was hit by a 2003 GMC Envoy driven by Harold Thompson, 56, of 1521 Wateree Road in Alcolu. Thompson was traveling north on Hotel Road, about 3.34 miles north of Manning, Jones said.

Reports indicate that Thompson tried to pass another vehicle about 7:20 p.m. and during the pass attempt, the pickup truck struck Simmons, who was walking northbound. Jones said Hotel Road has a posted 55-mph speed limit where the collision occurred.

Simmons' sister Shanetia Avinger said the family is unsure whether her brother was on his way home or going somewhere at the time of the incident.

“We think that he was going to a friend's house who lives right up the street,” Avinger said. “We don't know if it happened on his way there or on his way back.”

Clarendon County Coroner Hayes Samuels said Simmons was wearing dark clothing.

Jones said that neither Thompson nor his passenger, Cindy Thompson, 53, was injured, and that both were wearing seatbelts.

“We were very shocked this happened,” Avinger said of her brother's death. “We were very hurt. To have him be so close to home and have something like this happen, we just want to know how.”

Avinger, a nurse who lives in Atlanta, said she was at work when she heard about Simmons.

“I work at the ER there as a registered nurse,” she said. “I was hurt by it. I just wanted so bad to be here for him.”

Avinger said her brother was an outgoing, friendly person.

“He had lots of friends,” she said. “In the past, he'd gotten into some trouble, but he was trying to turn his life around and find a job so he could move to Atlanta, too, with me and my sister (Clarissia Simmons).”

Avinger said Simmons had dropped out of Manning High School but had recently received his high school diploma through online classes.

“He was doing good and trying to get back on track,” Avinger said.

No charges have been filed in the crash.

Contact Staff Writer Robert Baker at bbaker@theitem.com or (803) 435-8511.