I got a phone call yesterday morning telling me one of my long time co-workers and a sweet friend's 5 year old grandson was run over and killed on his bicycle Sunday evening right by his house. This hurt me to my heart because I see this child all the time and he was the sweetest kid.
RIP Sullivan
RIDGEWAY — A 5-year-old Kershaw County boy whose passions ranged from singing at church to playing T-ball was killed in front of his home on Father’s Day when police said a drunken driver crashed into his bicycle.
Police said the man who struck the boy lived on the same road. He used to wave at the family as he drove past.
Sullivan Daniel Spradley of 249 Shivers Green Road, Ridgeway, died Sunday night at Palmetto Health Richland hospital. He suffered trauma to his chest, arms and legs, Kershaw County Coroner Johnny Fellers said.
Sullivan, his dad, Tim, and 12-year-old cousin, Michael Post, went bike riding Sunday night. They did not go far and were almost home when they heard a car and got off the road, the Spradleys said Monday.
The driver apparently never saw her son, Tonya Spradley said.
Sullivan was wearing his helmet like he always did when he rode the bike, a gift for his fourth birthday, his parents said. He would have been a kindergartner at Wateree Elementary.
The S.C. Highway Patrol charged Donald E. Brown, 42, of 1017-C Shivers Green Road with felony DUI.
Police said Brown, who was previously arrested on a DUI charge, was traveling north in a 1998 Jeep about 9 p.m. Sunday, when the Jeep struck Sullivan. Brown remained at the Kershaw County Detention Center on Monday afternoon.
At Sullivan’s home Monday afternoon, friends and neighbors gathered to comfort his grieving family. Many were in the roomy kitchen filled with flowers and containers of food.
Sullivan’s parents, Tim, 32, and Tonya, 31, settled on a couch in the living room with their 4-year-old son, Spencer. They were preparing to go to Pope Funeral Home in Winnsboro to finalize arrangements: The visitation will be from 7 to 9 tonight, and the funeral at 11 a.m. Wednesday at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Ridgeway.
“We were blessed with him for five years. We know we’ll be with him again,” his mother said.
It would not surprise her or his dad to know Sullivan is entertaining the crowd in heaven with a hymn or two.
“He loved going to church and singing his primary songs. ‘I’m a Child of God’ was his favorite,” Tonya Spradley said.
Another favorite was a Schoolhouse Rock classic. “Conjunction junction, what’s your function,” Tonya Spradley sang softly Monday afternoon.
The Spradleys said they felt tremendously blessed when they learned she was pregnant with Sullivan: They had been trying to have a child for two years. He was big for his age, his mother said, resembling a boy of 7 or 8, and loved chocolate Pop-Tarts, sugar wafers and pepperoni pizza.
Monday afternoon, she and her husband often glanced at little Spencer, who shared his brother’s soulful brown eyes and lavish eyelashes.
“He loved his brother. They were always together,” she said.
CRIMINAL RECORD
Brown’s arrest Sunday wasn’t the first. State Law Enforcement Division records show:
• Brown was charged with DUI in 1989, though it was not clear Monday whether he was convicted.
• In 1997, he was placed on two years probation after being convicted of possession of less than a gram of crack cocaine.
• In 2001, he was charged with striking a fixture on a highway and littering, though the disposition of those charges is unknown.
AT A LOSS FOR WORDS
Brown’s wife, Laurean Brown, visited the Spradleys on Monday morning to pay her respects. She said her husband knew the family and often blew the horn at them when he rode by their home.
“She didn’t know what to say,” Tonya Spradley said.
Words did not come any easier for Laurean Brown, 42, Monday afternoon as she sat weeping in her den.
She said she had talked to her husband about 5 p.m. Sunday, but “couldn’t tell if he had been drinking.” The next time she talked to him was about four hours later, just after the wreck.
“He said he had an accident and must have hit a little boy.”
She rushed to the scene with two of their three children.
They arrived about the same time as the ambulance. Laurean Brown said was unable to talk to her husband of 20 years. He is a landscaper, loves children and would not hurt one purposely, she said.
Thinking about him and the charge he is facing, “I don’t know how to feel. A child is gone. A 5-year-old child.”
RIP Sullivan
RIDGEWAY — A 5-year-old Kershaw County boy whose passions ranged from singing at church to playing T-ball was killed in front of his home on Father’s Day when police said a drunken driver crashed into his bicycle.
Police said the man who struck the boy lived on the same road. He used to wave at the family as he drove past.
Sullivan Daniel Spradley of 249 Shivers Green Road, Ridgeway, died Sunday night at Palmetto Health Richland hospital. He suffered trauma to his chest, arms and legs, Kershaw County Coroner Johnny Fellers said.
Sullivan, his dad, Tim, and 12-year-old cousin, Michael Post, went bike riding Sunday night. They did not go far and were almost home when they heard a car and got off the road, the Spradleys said Monday.
The driver apparently never saw her son, Tonya Spradley said.
Sullivan was wearing his helmet like he always did when he rode the bike, a gift for his fourth birthday, his parents said. He would have been a kindergartner at Wateree Elementary.
The S.C. Highway Patrol charged Donald E. Brown, 42, of 1017-C Shivers Green Road with felony DUI.
Police said Brown, who was previously arrested on a DUI charge, was traveling north in a 1998 Jeep about 9 p.m. Sunday, when the Jeep struck Sullivan. Brown remained at the Kershaw County Detention Center on Monday afternoon.
At Sullivan’s home Monday afternoon, friends and neighbors gathered to comfort his grieving family. Many were in the roomy kitchen filled with flowers and containers of food.
Sullivan’s parents, Tim, 32, and Tonya, 31, settled on a couch in the living room with their 4-year-old son, Spencer. They were preparing to go to Pope Funeral Home in Winnsboro to finalize arrangements: The visitation will be from 7 to 9 tonight, and the funeral at 11 a.m. Wednesday at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Ridgeway.
“We were blessed with him for five years. We know we’ll be with him again,” his mother said.
It would not surprise her or his dad to know Sullivan is entertaining the crowd in heaven with a hymn or two.
“He loved going to church and singing his primary songs. ‘I’m a Child of God’ was his favorite,” Tonya Spradley said.
Another favorite was a Schoolhouse Rock classic. “Conjunction junction, what’s your function,” Tonya Spradley sang softly Monday afternoon.
The Spradleys said they felt tremendously blessed when they learned she was pregnant with Sullivan: They had been trying to have a child for two years. He was big for his age, his mother said, resembling a boy of 7 or 8, and loved chocolate Pop-Tarts, sugar wafers and pepperoni pizza.
Monday afternoon, she and her husband often glanced at little Spencer, who shared his brother’s soulful brown eyes and lavish eyelashes.
“He loved his brother. They were always together,” she said.
CRIMINAL RECORD
Brown’s arrest Sunday wasn’t the first. State Law Enforcement Division records show:
• Brown was charged with DUI in 1989, though it was not clear Monday whether he was convicted.
• In 1997, he was placed on two years probation after being convicted of possession of less than a gram of crack cocaine.
• In 2001, he was charged with striking a fixture on a highway and littering, though the disposition of those charges is unknown.
AT A LOSS FOR WORDS
Brown’s wife, Laurean Brown, visited the Spradleys on Monday morning to pay her respects. She said her husband knew the family and often blew the horn at them when he rode by their home.
“She didn’t know what to say,” Tonya Spradley said.
Words did not come any easier for Laurean Brown, 42, Monday afternoon as she sat weeping in her den.
She said she had talked to her husband about 5 p.m. Sunday, but “couldn’t tell if he had been drinking.” The next time she talked to him was about four hours later, just after the wreck.
“He said he had an accident and must have hit a little boy.”
She rushed to the scene with two of their three children.
They arrived about the same time as the ambulance. Laurean Brown said was unable to talk to her husband of 20 years. He is a landscaper, loves children and would not hurt one purposely, she said.
Thinking about him and the charge he is facing, “I don’t know how to feel. A child is gone. A 5-year-old child.”
