South Carolina man killed when ejected from vehicle that hit several trees, coroner says
A South Carolina man was killed late Friday night when the vehicle he was driving hit several trees, according to the Pickens County Coroner’s Office.
Jonathan Reid Hancock, a 40-year-old Six Mile resident, died in the crash, the coroner’s office said.
The single-vehicle collision happened at about 11 p.m. off of Old Seneca Road, according to Cpl. David Jones of the South Carolina Highway Patrol.
Hancock was heading north in a 2003 Volkswagen, when the vehicle ran off the right side of Old Seneca Road in the area near the Oconee County line, Jones said.
The vehicle hit several trees and Hancock, who was not wearing a seat belt, was ejected, according to the coroner’s office.
Hancock died at the scene, Jones said.
No other injuries were reported.
Information about what caused the Volkswagen to veer off the road was not available, but the crash continues to be investigated by the Highway Patrol and coroner’s office.
Through Thursday, 306 people had died on South Carolina roads in 2024, according to the state Department of Public Safety. Last year, 1,030 people died in crashes in South Carolina, DPS reported.
At least six people have died in Pickens County crashes in 2024, according to DPS data. There were 18 deaths reported in the county in 2023, DPS reported.
