Two wrecks in Lafayette County kill three over weekend, including Oxford resident

Published 11:53 am Monday, November 13, 2017

The Mississippi Highway Patrol is reporting that two wrecks claimed three lives over the weekend in Lafayette County.

On Friday around 5:15 p.m., Oxford resident Chris White was killed when his pickup was struck on the driver’s side by a westbound log truck while crossing the intersection of Highway 6 and University Avenue. Stacy Johnson of Water Valley drove the log truck.

Lafayette County Coroner Rocky Kennedy pronounced White, 45, dead at the scene.

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A passenger in White’s vehicle and the truck driver were transported to Baptist Memorial Hospital-North Mississippi with injuries.

The cause of this crash is still under investigation.

White worked as a self-employed framer and worked in construction for most of his life. He was an avid fisherman and family members said he loved to build things and enjoyed working with his hands.

The second accident occurred on Saturday around 10:30 a.m. and claimed the lives of two Memphis residents.

According to MHP, the wreck happened on Highway 7 near County Road 112. A 2011 F-150, driven by Jerry Gordon of Water Valley was traveling south on Highway 7 when the front of his vehicle struck the rear of a 2011 Kia driven by Destiny Ray of Oxford, which was also traveling south. The F-150 then went into the northbound lane on Highway 7 where it collided with a Chevy pickup driven by Melvin Charlton of Memphis, which was traveling north on Highway 7.

The F-150 and the Chevy caught on fire. Charlton and his passenger, Cothern Wilkes, both of Memphis, were pronounced dead at the scene.

Gordon was flown to the Regional Medical Center in Memphis and Ray was transferred with nonlife-threatening injuries to Baptist.

The cause of the wreck is still under investigation.