Organization honors fallen LEO with memorial bench

SUMMER COUNTY, WV (WOAY) – After months in the making, the Hinton Hope Foundation gets approval to erect a memorial bench at a local state park.

In 2017, Bluefield Police Lt. Aaron Crook was killed in the line of duty. During his life, Bluestone Lake was his favorite fishing destination. The Hinton Hope Foundation plans to place a bench at the lake this fall in his honor.

“It will be actually convenient for those who might have mobility issues, getting to be able to sit there,” said assistant executive director Laura Lilly. “You can actually see pretty much the whole lake from this spot. The beauty of the location is, you know, phenomenal. It’s one of the prettiest spots, I think, in the country.”

The foundation hopes to have the bench placed later this year. It will sit at the Lilly Bridge Overlook.

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Kassie Simmons
Kassie Simmons joined the team in January 2019 as a weekend journalist. She graduated from Virginia Tech in just two and a half years with a BA in multimedia journalism. During her short time at Virginia Tech, she served as the editor for the university’s chapter of The Tab. Kassie was named the top reporter for The Tab at Virginia Tech on multiple occasions and made the list for the top 30 reporters for The Tab in the U.S. She also studied theater performance and minored in creative writing. Before coming to WOAY, Kassie interned at WSLS in Roanoke and the Tidewater Review in her hometown of West Point, Va. She has loved following breaking news since her childhood and has a passion for delivering the stories people care most about. Kassie is excited to be working in Southern West Virginia and looks forward to all the adventures ahead of her. You can follow her on Twitter at @KassieLSimmons and like her page on Facebook. If you have a story you think she should check out, send her an email at ksimmons@woay.com.