Husband of Ohio woman hurt by dropped rock dies at 55

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The husband of an Ohio schoolteacher critically injured when a rock was dropped on her car from a highway overpass has died. Randy Budd was 55.

Harry Campbell, chief investigator for the Stark County Coroner’s office, told The Associated Press on Sunday that Budd died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound and was pronounced dead at his Uniontown, Ohio, home late Saturday.

Sharon Budd suffered catastrophic head injuries when a five-pound rock dropped from an overpass crashed through the windshield of her family’s moving car on Interstate 80 in central Pennsylvania in July 2014. Four young men were convicted and sentenced to prison in a case that attracted national attention.

Randy Budd became an advocate for requiring fencing on overpasses. Earlier this year, the Budd family helped push through new rules in Ohio requiring any new or rehabbed bridges over most busy highways to be topped with chain-link fencing to deter vandals.