SC teen killed on highway named in father’s memory

WELLFORD, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina teenager was killed in a wreck on a stretch of highway named in memory of his father, a soldier slain in Afghanistan.

The South Carolina Highway Patrol said 18-year-old Aaron Shawn Hill was pronounced dead at the scene of Thursday morning’s wreck on Highway 129 in Wellford, which is in the northwestern part of the state. Hill’s two passengers were hospitalized after the wreck.

The Highway Patrol said the Honda that Hill was driving was hit head-on when a Chevrolet pickup driven by 27-year-old Michael Blake White crossed the center line. No charges have been filed, but the investigation is continuing.

The local sheriff called it a freak accident.

The stretch of road where Hill died is named for his father, U.S. Army National Guard Sgt. Shawn Hill. The 37-year-old soldier was killed in Afghanistan in 2008 when his vehicle hit a roadside bomb. Hundreds of people had attended the father’s funeral.