Cheerleader, Coach Die When Van Flips

Mon., Aug. 11, 1997

From Staff And Wire Reports

A van packed with college cheerleaders blew a tire at 90 mph and flipped over Sunday, killing the coach and a cheerleader. Eleven others were injured.

The group of male and female cheerleaders from the State University of West Georgia was traveling to a cheerleading camp in Myrtle Beach, S.C. The van turned over on Interstate 20 near Crawfordville, said Georgia State Patrol Trooper Charles Ardister.

The coach and driver, Stephanie Suzanne Shaw, 27, and Deandre Hamilton, 20, were killed in the crash. The others were injured when they were ejected from the van, Ardister said.

Two cheerleaders were in critical condition after being airlifted to a hospital in Augusta. The others were in stable condition.

Crawfordville is about 85 miles east of Atlanta.

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Cheerleader, Coach Die When Van Flips

Jesse Tinsley

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