A Winnsboro man was killed last weekend when his 2001 Jeep Cherokee crashed off Highway 269 in the early morning hours of Dec. 23.
Fairfield County Coroner Barkley Ramsey said 21-year-old Stephen Roof, of Old Roof Road in Winnsboro, died at approximately 3 a.m. Dec. 23 from injuries sustained in the one-car accident. The wreckage, however, was not discovered until 7:15 a.m., according to the S.C. Highway Patrol. The Highway Patrol said Roof was traveling east on 269 when the Jeep ran off the left side of the road and overturned several times. Ramsey said the Jeep left approximately 460-feet of skid marks on the roadway leading up to the curve where Roof left the road, 1.6 miles south of Winnsboro. Ramsey said once the Jeep left the road, it continued out across a nearby field, flipping several times before it finally came to rest some 400 feet from the main road. Roof had been visiting friends in Columbia earlier that evening and was not expected home that night, Ramsey said. That, and the distance from the main road of the wreck, account for the delay in discovering the accident, he said.
The Highway Patrol said Roof was wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident, which remains under investigation. Ramsey said that speed appears to be a factor in the fatal crash.
