Family Mourns Loss Of Recent High School Graduate Killed In OKC Asphalt Silo Accident

A Pottawatomie County community is mourning the loss of a recent high school graduate who died after falling into an asphalt silo.

About 11 a.m. Tuesday, first responders were dispatched to T.J. Campbell Construction on Sunnylane Road between SE 59th and Interstate 240 in Oklahoma City after they received reports of a man falling into a silo.

Family identified Robert Sweeney, 18, as the victim in the accident.

On Tuesday, a spokesman for T.J. Campbell Construction told News 9 Sweeney fell approximately 25 feet into the silo. Temperatures inside can reach up to 320 degrees.

The construction company said Sweeney was performing maintenance by cleaning the asphalt silo when he slipped and fell inside.

Sweeney was a recent graduate of McLoud High School. Close friends said Sweeney lit up each room he entered and was always the life of the party.

“It has been a very difficult, trying time,” said Tiffany Barris, a close friend of Sweeney’s. “He made our days better. We love him and we miss him already."

Close friends said Sweeney had only been working at T.J. Campbell Construction for three months. Sweeney worked with his father and brother who were there at the time of the incident.

“He was only in this life for 18 years, but he impacted so many people,” said Joey Hutchens, another close friend of Sweeney's. “It is just absolutely incredible and what he did on so many people lives. It is a shame that this happened to him at such a young age and (he wasn’t) able to experience life to the fullest that he should have been able to.”

The United States Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is investigating the incident.

Records show T.J. Campbell Construction received safety violations in 2013 and 2019 at different locations in Oklahoma City. OSHA said the violations are related to “trenching and excavation protective systems.”

A GoFundMe page has been established to help family with funeral expenses.

“He is tremulously missed by so many people,” said Hutchens. “I just wish he was here with all of us still. You never really know when someone is going to be gone, even being that young of an age.”

Funeral services for Sweeney will be held at 10 a.m. Nov. 13 inside the McLoud High School gym.

A spokesman for T.J. Campbell Construction, Jeff Taylor, issued this statement to News 9 Thursday night: 

“T.J. Campbell Construction Company is deeply saddened by the death of our employee. We continue to work with officials to determine an exact cause of this tragic death. We appreciate the concern and sympathy expressed to us on behalf of our employee. We continue to offer aid to the family in this difficult time. We also encourage community members to lend their support, prayers, and thoughts to the family any way they feel prompted.”