Atmore couple’s daughter killed when car hits FHS building
By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
A 21-year-old Georgia woman, recently graduated from a dental assistant program and in the early stages of her first job in that field, was killed in the first hour of December 23 when she lost control of her vehicle, ran off U.S. 31 and crashed into a building on the campus of Flomaton High School.
Shaneal Schifano, daughter of Calecia and Ricky Finklea of Atmore, was reportedly killed instantly in the crash, which happened just after midnight and left her 2015 Ford Fusion little more than a crumpled mass of metal.
Calecia Finklea said her daughter had just weeks ago completed her course work at Morrow (Ga.) Vocational School’s United Education Institution (UEI) and had planned to enroll at Coastal Alabama Community College’s Bay Minette campus to continue her education and earn certification as a dental assistant.
“She was so humble, so sweet,” Calecia Finklea said. “She was never in trouble.”
Schifano had recently landed a part-time position with Atmore Family Dental and was in the process of moving to Atmore from the metro-Atlanta area. She was reportedly the Fusion’s only occupant.
The wreck victim was a 2019 graduate of Morrow High School, where she played on the school’s softball team.
She is also survived by a brother, Hikeem Howard of Atmore, a sister, Jalecia Fields, a registered nurse at Atmore Community Hospital, and a brother-in-law, Mario Fields, an Alabama State Trooper.
Flomaton Police Department officials had not released by Tuesday’s press deadline the details of their investigation into the crash.
FPD officers, as well as Flomaton Fire Department personnel, a D.W. McMillan EMS ambulance crew and Escambia County Sheriff’s Office deputies were all dispatched to the scene of the fatality.