Man dies when car jack breaks, vehicle falls on him, SC officials say. ‘One of a kind’

A 50-year-old man died while working on a vehicle when a car jack collapsed, South Carolina officials said.

Loved ones described Shawn Petty as “one of a kind.”

The man was doing work underneath the vehicle supported by a jack at his home in Starr shortly before 5 p.m. Dec. 7, Anderson County Coroner Greg Shore said in a news release that day.

But the car jack failed, and the vehicle collapsed on Petty’s chest, trapping him, Shore said.

Friends and family freed Petty from under the vehicle before first responders arrived, but he died at the scene, according to the coroner.

He sustained blunt force trauma to his chest that led to traumatic asphyxiation, according to the coroner, who has ruled the death as accidental.

“My best friend is gone and nothing will ever be the same,” one woman wrote on Facebook.

Those who knew Petty described him as a good man.

“This was a very very tragic accident,” another woman wrote on Facebook, identifying herself as the mother of Petty’s child. “He loved his son. Shawn loved his friends, family, most of all, Shawn loved life.”

The coroner’s office is investigating the incident.

Anderson County is on the South Carolina-Georgia state line and is about a 120-mile drive northwest from Columbia.

This story was originally published December 9, 2024 at 3:22 PM with the headline "Man dies when car jack breaks, vehicle falls on him, SC officials say. ‘One of a kind’."