Family discusses utility-pole accident that killed local teacher

BAMBERG, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - The family of a Wagener-Salley High School teacher spoke out Tuesday for the first time since she was killed by a utility pole that was pulled down by a tractor-trailer in Wagener.

The family of Jeunelle Robinson addressed media at 11 a.m. Tuesday alongside their attorney Justin Bamberg.

Watch the news conference below.

Robinson, who her family affectionately called pumpkin among many other nicknames, was a light.

“Pumpkin, muffin, girly, and my chick,” said Robinson’s dad, Donovan Julian.

He reflected on their best memories.

“She had bible study with her mother and her aunt every Tuesday,” he said.

Now as they mourn, the family is working with Bamberg Legal to make a few requests, hoping no other family ever has to feel their pain.

Attorneys say the utility pole that hit Robinson was 60 years old.

“These big companies come and they make profits off of our utility bills just like they do everybody else’s but when it comes time to monitor and replace, we don’t seem to be getting the attention that we need,” said South Carolina Senator Brad Hutto.

Although the family hasn’t filed a lawsuit at this point, Bamberg listed the price of what it will take to “make things right”:

• A commitment to invest in the power and utility infrastructure of Salley and Wagener for $20 million.
• A $10 million trust for an annual scholarship in Robinson’s name for Aiken County students going to college to become public school teachers, plus other public education initiatives.
• Financial compensation to Robinson’s estate totaling $100 million.

“She was a light. She was a light, taken too soon,” said Julian.

Robinson, 31, was killed by the utility pole last Wednesday on Main Street in Wagener.

Robinson, who taught social studies at Wagener-Salley High, was on her lunch break when a Peterbilt truck hit some overhead utility lines, which then pulled eight poles out of the ground.

One of the poles flew through the air and hit Robinson. She later died due to her injuries.

Bamberg said Robinson’s commitment to South Carolina’s children doesn’t have to die with her.

Bamberg contends the poles were potentially more than six decades old and suffered severe wood rot and, had they been maintained or replaced, would not have easily snapped or been pulled out of the ground.

Bamberg said what happened to Robinson was an avoidable risk due to the infrastructure problems found in rural America.

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