SC House candidate killed in car crash after hitting tractor-trailer in median
A candidate for the South Carolina House of Representatives has died.
According to the South Carolina Highway Patrol, a 2013 Volkswagon sedan was driving north on U.S. Highway 25 near Augusta Road around 2:45 a.m. Friday, about 15 miles south of Greenville. The car struck the rear of an unoccupied 1998 Freightliner tractor-trailer that was legally parked in the median, Master Trooper Brandon Bolt said.
The driver of the Volkswagon, identified by the Greenville County Coroner’s Office as 39-year-old John Eric Childs, died at the scene from blunt force trauma to the head.
Childs had been running for House District 6 seat in Anderson County.
“The loss of my beloved husband has left me devastated,” Childs’ wife Jessicka Spearman wrote in a post on Instagram. “Eric was not just a devoted husband and loving father, but also a courageous combat veteran who served his country with honor. He believed fervently in a South Carolina where everyone could be free, prosperous, and happy.”
Spearman is running for South Carolina Senate District 3.
The crash is still under investigation by the SC Highway Patrol.
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