Published: November 19, 2008 02:03 pm            

ECCC mourns death of two students; Another student injured, remains in hospital

NEWTON — The ambiance is solemn on the campus of East Central Community College in Decatur in reaction to the recent tragic deaths of two ECCC students, Shareef Dixon and Bradley “B.J.” McElroy Jr. Both young men were freshmen career-technology students training for their future careers.

“It is always tragic when lives are lost to accidents and to have two students lost in separate accidents on back-to-back weekends is doubly tragic,” Dr. Phil A. Sutphin, president of ECCC said. “We offer our condolences to the families and pray that they find the strength to deal with the sadness and loss of a loved one.”

The first of the two tragic deaths of ECCC students occurred on Oct. 31. Dixon, 18, an electrical technology student of Lena, was traveling in a 1995 Crown Victoria west on U.S. Highway 80 passing through the Kalem community between Morton and Forest at approximately 11 p.m. when his vehicle collided head-on with a vehicle traveling east on U.S. 80 when his life came to a tragic end. Dixon was on his way to pick up his cousin and younger brother at the Morton High School field house after the team returned from their game at Decatur with Newton County.

ECCC electrical technology instructor John Everett described Dixon as “a very likable young man.”

“Shareef was a good student and was always willing to help,” Everett said. “He did good work and was good to volunteer and work with others.”

Everett said his class is continuing to cope with the loss of their classmate. He said the care for Dixon was evident the first day of class following Dixon’s death.

“I always have a sign-in sheet and one of his classmates wrote, ‘R.I.P. we will always love you,’ on the sheet and signed Shareef’s name,” Everett said.

Everett said Dixon’s younger brother, a ninth-grader at Morton High School, has expressed plans of attending ECCC following high school graduation.

“Shareef’s younger brother is planning to come through my program and carry on his brother’s legacy,” Everett said he was told by Dixon’s mother.

The accident also claimed the lives of David Randall, 22, of Morton and two of his children, Chriscedez, 2, and Mercades, 4, and his friend, David Allen, 21, also of Morton. Dixon’s funeral was held at 1 p.m. on Nov. 6 at Cedar Grove Missionary Baptist Church in Lena.

Dixon was a 2008 graduate of Morton High School. He is the son of Mavis Dixon and Dennis Dixon of Lena.

An early Sunday morning, Nov. 9, accident claimed the life of the second ECCC student, McElroy, 19, a welding and cutting program student from Noxapater, who died instantly, when a Brandon police cruiser, en route to a call, crashed into his vehicle in Brandon.

ECCC welding instructor, Gerald Jordan, said McElroy’s classmates are dealing with the grief of their friend as best they can.

Jordan said McElroy was a talented welding student and his prior two years of training at Winston–Louisville Career and Technology Center was apparent in his work.

“He was exceptionally well-behaved and just a good student,” Jordan said. “He did his class work and anything we asked of him.”

Shane McDaniel, McElroy’s high school metal trades instructor said McElroy was a great young man who had a lot of things going for him.

“It is such a tragedy that his life was taken from him at such a young age,” McDaniel said.  “B.J. left his legacy on life; he lived it to the fullest. He was a respectful young man and I am proud to have called him one of my students.”

Authorities said the crash occurred on U.S. 80 at the westbound I-20 exit ramp in Brandon. The crash hospitalized another ECCC student, Ciera Hines, 18, of Morton, who was a passenger in McElroy’s vehicle, and a Brandon police officer. Hines remains hospitalized in stable condition.

Funeral services for McElroy were held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 11, at Jordan Funeral Home in Kosciusko with burial in the Friendship Cemetery.

He was a 2008 graduate of Noxapater High School in 2008. He is the son of Bradley Alton McElroy Sr. of Louisville and Deneace Hobbs Reel of Noxapater.



The Scott County Times and The Clarion-Ledger contributed to this report.

        

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