LANCASTER, S.C. — Family and friends are grieving after a 15-year-old boy from Lancaster County was killed after being thrown from the back of a moving pickup truck early Sunday morning.
It happened around 12:30 a.m. at the intersection of Gillsbrook Road and Plantation Road in Lancaster.
Trey Hughes died after being taken to MUSC-Lancaster. Police said he was riding in the bed of the truck when he fell.
Family members said the group Hughes was with was drinking in a Walmart parking lot before the incident. Heather Hughes, Trey’s older sister, said the driver also had up to three people sitting in the bed of the pickup.
Channel 9′s South Carolina bureau reporter Greg Suskin spoke off-camera to the boy’s grandmother who came out to the scene. She said her grandson was a vivacious and funny young man, and his family is devastated. Trey Hughes was a freshman at Lancaster High School, loved to play basketball and made everyone laugh.
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“A lot of us are just kind of pretending it hasn’t really happened yet,” Heather Hughes said. “Hoping he’s just gonna walk through the door. Apparently, he was sitting on a toolbox and when they went to make this turn, he fell off.”
Channel 9 spoke with several neighbors who live near the intersection where the accident happened, but none heard or saw anything. One woman said someone should be held responsible.
“Somebody ought to give an account, that young man is dead,” one woman said. “Somebody should care.”
Heather Hughes said her brother’s death must teach a severe lesson.
“I feel like if you’re a teen, you shouldn’t be drinking anyway, but if you are, stay at home. Stay off the roads,” she said.
Lancaster police have interviewed the driver of the truck, but officers have not filed charges. They are still investigating what led up to the incident.
The Lancaster City Police Department and the Lancaster County Coroner’s Office are investigating the case.
This is an ongoing investigation. Check back with wsoctv.com for updates.
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