Coosa students lament loss of classmate
The school will name a rose garden for Marshall Watson, who died in a wreck on Gadsden Road.
Coosa students across a broad spectrum of interests and activities mourned the death of 16-year-old Marshall Watson on Friday. Principal LaDonna Turrentine said it was an incredibly difficult day because of the depth of Watson’s involvement in activities at school. She said Watson was passionate about the welding program at the Floyd County College and Career Academy and volunteered time to help beautify the campus.
Watson was killed Thursday afternoon in a one-vehicle wreck on U.S. 411 west of Cave Spring.
“Welding was his thing,” Turrentine said. “He knew that he loved it and once he started doing it he enjoyed it so very much.” She said he loved cutting things up and then using the pieces to create something altogether new.
Turrentine also said that just last week Watson helped beautify the campus by planting rose bushes.
“To me that was an example of what kind of person he was, just a caring individual. He took care of the little details to make everything look beautiful,” Turrentine said. “We’re going to name the rose garden the Marshall Watson Rose Garden,”
Tom Ewing, assistant chief of the Floyd County Police Department, said that Watson was westbound on U.S. 411 — also known as Gadsden Road — between 4:30 and 5 p.m. when he crested a hill in a slight curve and lost control of his vehicle. Ewing said it appeared as if the 16-yearold went off the right shoulder, overcorrected and came all the way back across the highway and slammed into a utility pole.
“It did not appear as if speed was a factor, but the weather definitely was,” Ewing said.