‘One Tree Hill’ Alum Bevin Prince Gives First Interview Since Husband’s Death by Lightning

One Tree Hill alum Bevin Prince lost her husband, William Freind, in a tragic lightning strike earlier this year, and now the actress has given her first interview since his death. Speaking to ABC news, Prince spoke about the terrible incident, which happened five months ago while the couple was boating in North Carolina. “I’m just so proud. I’m so proud that I got to do life with him,” she said. “He was one of the funniest people I’ve ever met in my life, by far. He lit up every single room he came into. You never forgot when you met Will Friend.”

Recalling the July incident, Prince shared, “We look up and we can see the storm in a distance. But we’d been there so many times, and there was no urgency for anyone to get off the water at that tie. We were watching it.” Everything soon changed, when Bevins and her father were jumping to another boat, as the lightning struck Prince just as they moved. “It was instant,” she said. “They rushed over to him and, at the time, a police boat happened to be coming by, so they moved him over to the police boat quickly. And from what I’ve heard, you know, spent a lot of time and care trying to resuscitate him.”

Prince explained that she feels there was a certain amount of “divinity” in the tragedy, saying, “Right before it hit him, he lit a cigar and he looked at my father and he said, ‘If we get struck by lightning, Mike, this is where I wanna be.’ And then it happened. I believe it was really his time.” She added, “He was 33 years old. It was July 3 and I believe the exact time that the lightning struck was 3:13 p.m. So knowing that all the resources were there to potentially save him, I have to believe that something bigger beyond me was calling him.”

After Friend’s death, Prince’s old One Tree Hill co-star Sophia Bush took to Instagram to mourn the death of her friend’s husband. In post on her Instgram Stories thread, Bush shared a photo of the couple. In the caption, Bush wrote, “Heartbroken and at a loss. Our family is grieving for one of our own. Please lift up [Bevin Prince] in whatever way you are able. Show her the love she deserves; the love her husband always showed her.”