SR343: SR343 Sapelo Island; lives lost during the Marsh Landing Dock gangway collapse; honor

This resolution responds to the collapse of the gangway at the Marsh Landing Dock on Sapelo Island on October 19, 2024, during the Hogg Hummock community's annual Cultural Day event, which sent at least 20 people into the water. Seven people died in the collapse. The resolution does not change any Georgia law. It formally states that the Georgia Senate honors the lives lost, names each of the seven victims, and extends condolences to their families and the Hogg Hummock community, described as one of the last Gullah-Geechee communities in Georgia. It also directs the Secretary of the Senate to make copies available to the public and the press.

• Formally states that the Senate honors the seven people who died in the October 19, 2024 gangway collapse at Marsh Landing Dock on Sapelo Island.
• Names each of the seven victims individually along with their ages and hometowns.
• Extends the Senate's condolences to the families and individuals affected by the collapse.
• Directs the Secretary of the Senate to prepare copies of the resolution for distribution to the public and press.

The families of the seven people who died, the Hogg Hummock community on Sapelo Island, and the Secretary of the Senate, who is directed to distribute copies of the resolution.

The resolution creates no new law or funding; its effect is symbolic. It gives official Senate recognition to the deaths at Marsh Landing Dock and puts the community's loss and the victims' names into the permanent legislative record.

• The whereas clauses describe Hogg Hummock as one of Georgia's last Gullah-Geechee communities and recount the October 19, 2024 gangway collapse during the Cultural Day event.
• The resolution names the seven victims: Jacqueline Crews Carter, Cynthia Gibbs, Charles L. Houston, William Johnson Jr., Carlotta McIntosh, Isaiah Thomas, and Queen Welch.
• The resolving clause has the Senate honor the victims and extend condolences to affected families and individuals.
• A further resolved clause directs the Secretary of the Senate to make copies available to the public and the press.

1. 2025-03-06Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2. 2025-03-04Senate Hopper (Senate)

• Donzella James (D, SD-028)Primary sponsor
• Harold Jones (D, SD-022)
• Sally Harrell (D, SD-040)
• Kenya Wicks (D, SD-034)
• Gail Davenport (D, SD-017)
• Tonya Anderson (D, SD-043)
• Michael Rhett (D, SD-033)
• Kim Jackson (D, SD-041)
• Jason Esteves (D, SD-035)
• Nan Orrock (D, SD-036)
• Derek Mallow (D, SD-002)
• Sonya Halpern (D, SD-039)
• Randal Mangham (D, SD-055)
• Sheikh Rahman (D, SD-005)
• Nabilah Islam Parkes (D, SD-007)
• Elena Parent (D, SD-044)

• Sapelo Island
• Hogg Hummock
• Gullah-Geechee heritage
• dock collapse memorial