'This is not right': Young teacher killed by falling utility pole leads to calls for reform

WAGENER, SOUTH CAROLINA - A 31-year-old South Carolina teacher is dead after being struck by a falling utility pole. Now, her loved ones and community are trying to make sense of what happened.

Jeunelle Robinson, a social studies teacher at Wagener-Salley High School in Wagener, South Carolina was on her lunch break on Aug. 23 when a tractor-trailer hit overhead utility lines, pulling eight "defective" utility poles out of the ground, according to a news release from Bamberg Legal, which is representing the family.

One of the poles, which went flying through the air, struck Robinson as she walked along Main Street, gravely injuring her.

She was later pronounced dead at a local hospital, according to a news release from the Aiken County Coroner's Office. The coroner’s office and South Carolina Highway Patrol announced an investigation soon after.

School honors beloved teacher

In a message posted on the school's website a day after the event, Wagener-Salley High School principal Rasheem Neloms said Robinson was only in her second year teaching social studies at Wagener-Salley.

"Over the past year, she became friends with numerous colleagues and developed meaningful relationships with many of our students," the message read. "Genuine and sweet to everyone she encountered, her time here at our school and on this earth feels much too short."

The school canceled extracurricular actives following her death and said additional counselors will be on campus to support students, teachers, staff and families.

Family honors beloved daughter: Family hopes to provide scholarships in honor of Wagener teacher killed by utility pole

Parents speak out

Robinson’s parents also spoke publicly for the first time since their daughter's death Wednesday, requesting a settlement from utility companies that would go toward providing scholarships for Aiken County students.

While Robinson lost her life prematurely, the family said her legacy can live on.

Robinson's parents are requesting a commitment to invest $20 million in Wagener infrastructure, a $10 million trust for an annual scholarship in Robinson’s name which would be granted to Aiken County students going to college to become public school teachers, and $100 million in financial compensation.

Robinson's mother, Andrea Julian, said her daughter's life mission was to help students and the settlement would allow for that to continue.

"Our daughter had struggles with her education, her whole time of schooling," Julian said. "When she was in sixth grade, there was some talk about having her tested for learning disabilities. My husband and I opted to not let that happen, only because we felt that with the right type of help, meaning our own, we could school her ourselves."

Julian said her daughter struggled, but she persevered.

"Jeunelle was, like, two years behind most of the students in her class, from the age of 11 on up to adulthood," she said. "But she worked really hard. When it was time for her to study to be a teacher, she failed her practice test several times, but she just would not quit. She was determined to become a teacher."

Her parents said they asked her why she wanted to be a teacher, of all things.

"She said because she knew what kids needed to be able to learn, because of her experience," Julian said. "Education was important to her. Kids being able to reach their goals and their dreams was most important to her. Teaching was her calling, so that is why the scholarship idea is so important to us."

Family remembers a determined, loving young woman

While Robinson loved her time in the classroom, she also was very spiritual, according to her parents.

"Her favorite verse was 'I am fearfully and wonderfully made,'" Julian said. "Every time she went through anything, she would always recite that scripture. ... I want her legacy to be to speaking through that scripture – there's nothing that you can't do. There are so many haters and so many doubters that told her what she couldn't do, but she wanted to teach."

Robinson's father, Donovan Robinson, said he will always remember his daughter as his "girly" who loved Harry Potter and her family.

"She was a light taken too soon," he said. "Her name means young girl, and she kept that youth with her. She wasn't a quitter and she loved her students."

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Family threatens legal action

The young teacher’s family has announced plans to take legal action, claiming the incident leading to her death was "entirely avoidable."

They are demanding the utility companies involved pay $100 million in compensation, $20 million to start a trust fund in Robinson's name for scholarships and $10 million to repair or replace the remaining poles that pose a threat to the community.

Bamber Legal, the firm representing the family, said Robinson’s tragic death was the result of utility companies putting profit above the lives of people who rely on them.

Bamberg Legal said the poles were "potentially" more than six decades old and suffered wood rot, according to a press release. Had the poles been maintained or replaced, attorneys said they would not have snapped as easily or been pulled out of the ground.

"This is a utility pole with no wood," attorney Justin Bamberg said during a press conference this week. "I wouldn't even call that mulch... The poles are supposed to hold the lines, the lines are not supposed to hold up the poles."

Bamberg claims the utility companies, specifically naming Dominion Energy, knew the utility poles needed repair or replacement, but instead looked the other way.

"Dominion Energy has a project in the works called the Wagener Connection; it's all public on their website," he said. "It is a project fixing and improving electrical infrastructure in Wagener. Dominion publicly acknowledged the equipment life span is 60 years and said [the poles in Wagener] needed to be replaced."

The old, crooked utility poles had sagging power lines which, when snagged by a tractor-trailer, sent eight poles flying through the busiest road in town.

"This is not right. What happened to her is not right," Bamberg said. "We're going to fight and we're going to push to make sure this doesn’t happen again in Aiken County or any of our rural communities."

Bamberg said if the companies refuse, a lawsuit will be on the table.

In a statement to media, Dominion Energy said, "[We] extend our deepest condolences to the family of Jeunelle Robinson. Because the investigation regarding this accident is ongoing, it is too soon to provide any related details."

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Calls for reform reach government ears

Sen. Brad Hutto (D-Orangeburg) also spoke at the press conference, promising to review how utility companies operate and expressing the need for legislation that will hold utility companies accountable for maintaining their infrastructure.

"We need a system that makes [utility companies] do routine inspections," Hutto said. "Then, we need to create an agency that monitors the results."

Bamberg, who is also a South Carolina state representative, said right now, utility companies only need to seek approval with the state for rates.

"In terms of their own infrastructure, it belongs to them," he said. "No one can make them do anything."

Bamberg said the legislation would eliminate the risk of utility companies forgetting to make repairs or deciding not to do so. He added Robinson would "definitely" be part of the discussion.

"The general assembly limited the practice of naming laws after people with rare exception. However, that is definitely something that we will be looking at," he said. "I know that Sen. Hutto, Sen. [Nikki] Setzler (D-Aiken) and a lot of others are going to be working together to try to fill what is an obvious gap in our state system of utility infrastructure."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jeunelle Robinson's family threatens suit after utility pole death