Jackson County Commissioner seriously injured in skydiving accident

JACKSON, Mich. (WILX) - Jeromy Alexander, recently appointed Jackson County Commissioner, has been seriously injured while skydiving in Florida.

The incident happened Jan. 8 while Alexander, himself an instructor at Skydive Tecumseh, was attempting a jump at Skydive City. According to the Zephyrhills Police Department, Alexander did a “turn dive” too low, with the parachute downwards during the maneuver. Witnesses say he impacted the ground too hard, bouncing, rolling and injuring both his leg and head in the process.

He was airlifted to Lakeland Hospital where he underwent surgery to treat his injuries.

Alexander has been active in local politics even before his recent appointment to Jackson County Commissioner. He ran for mayor against Daniel Mahoney, who was himself commissioner at the time. Ultimately Mahoney won that race, but Alexander was then selected to fill Mahoney’s old position.

Related: Jackson mayoral candidate profile - Jeromy Alexander

“I just learned my former colleague Jeromy Alexander was in a tragic skydiving accident with serious injuries,” tweeted former Mayor Derek Dobies. “Please join me in sending thought and prayers out to Jeromy and his family today.”

This isn’t the first serious incident at Skydive City.

In 2013 two tourists from Iceland died after they rented parachutes from Skydive City that they failed to deploy, according to reporting from WFLX. In 2019, there were two deaths in separate incidents that were also associated with the business.

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