Grieving Man Arrested For Leaving Flower Box At Fiancees Grave As Petty Dad Reports Him

An Alabama man has been arrested for littering after placing a flower box at his deceased fiancee’s grave and allegedly being reported by her disapproving dad.

Hannah Leigh Ford, 27, was killed in a road accident in January 2021, just one month after Winston Hagans popped the question and the couple became engaged.

Hagans, from the city of Auburn in Lee County in the US state of Alabama, built a flower box to place at his fiancee’s grave because, according to him, she preferred planted flowers to cut flowers.

Winchester Hagans, was charged with criminal littering for the hand-built flower box he put next to the grave of his fiance Hannah Leigh Ford, both pictured, who died in an accident in 2021, in Auburn, Alabama, USA. (@winston.hagans/Newsflash)

However, he was stunned to learn that he was under arrest for littering after the dead woman’s father, named as Tom Ford, reportedly signed his arrest warrant.

Hagans now faces charges of criminal littering for leaving his handmade flower box at the grave.

He told WTVM News that he was in his car when a cop 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’.

The hand-built flower box Winchester Hagans next to the grave of his fiance Hannah Leigh Ford, who dided in an accident, in 2021, in Auburn, Alabama, USA. (@winston.hagans/Newsflash)

“I just want to be able to put flowers by my fiancee’s grave.”

Explaining why he built the flower box, Hagans said: “Even though she is gone, I promised her I would never bring her cut flowers again.”

He added: “She was the love of my life, the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.”

Hannah Leigh Ford, fiance of Winchester Hagans, she died in an accident in 2021, in Auburn, Alabama, USA. (@winston.hagans/Newsflash)

WTVM said the dead woman’s father signed the arrest warrant and is behind the apparently petty criminal procedure.

Hagans said he was not contacted by Ford before being arrested and has been left confused by the matter.

He said the authorities told him the flower box technical violates local laws, but they are rarely enforced unless specifically requested by the deceased’s family.

Winchester Hagans, was charged with criminal littering for the hand-built flower box he put next to the grave of his fiance Hannah Leigh Ford, both pictured, who died in an accident in 2021, in Auburn, Alabama, USA. (@winston.hagans/Newsflash)

Ford and the local police have yet to make a public statement on the littering charge.