Family of South Carolina Woman Killed in Elevator Shaft Awarded $600K

The family of a South Carolina woman who fell down an elevator shaft to her death has been awarded a $600,000 settlement.

Rae Gilmore was a volunteer and dealer at Blackhorse Antiques who was in her 70s in 2015. Cherokee County Coroner Dennis Fowler said she had called the freight elevator, but it never came down. She stepped forward when the doors opened, plunging 11 to 14 feet into the basement.

Family attorneys tell news outlets a judge signed the settlement order last month with insurers and the South Carolina Municipal Risk and Financing Fund on behalf of Gaffney.

South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation spokeswoman Lesia Kudelka says that elevator hadn’t been inspected since the state adopted an elevator code in 1986. It was built in the 1940s.