Man arrested for leaving flowers at fiancé’s grave

AUBURN, Ala. (WTVM/Gray News) – A man in Alabama is facing littering charges for putting a flower box next to his late fiancé's grave.

Winchester Hagans lost his fiancé, Hannah Ford, in a car crash in January 2021. According to WTVM, she died a month after he had proposed.

“Even though she is gone I promised her I would never bring her cut flowers again. She was the love of my life the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with,” he said.

Hagans built a flower box filled with her favorite flowers and decorated it with pictures of the two of them to put by her grave. He spoke with the city to ask if he was able to place his flower box by her grave.

“The people of the city told me they don’t enforce that unless a family member asked for it to be removed,” said Hagans.

Hannah’s father, Tom Ford, signed an arrest warrant to charge Hagans with littering. Hagans said he was never contacted by Ford before he was arrested.

“The officer came over and said, ‘Hey Mr. Hagans can you step out of the car there is a warrant for your arrest.’ I said, ‘No, that’s impossible there’s no way,’” Hagans said.

Hagans said he would build a thousand flower boxes if he had to for the love of his life.

WTVM contacted Ford for a comment but has not yet gotten a response.

According to the City of Auburn’s website, outside markers & flowers are allowed, but they must meet the city’s specifications.