Driver traveling wrong way dies in I-20 crash

Published 11:29 am Wednesday, September 12, 2012

A Holly Bluff man driving the wrong way on Interstate 20 was killed Tuesday night when his pickup ran head-on into a utility van just east of U.S. 61 North exit.

“We don’t know where he got on the highway,” Warren County Undersheriff Jeff Riggs said this morning.

James Henry Ross Jr., 39, was pronounced dead at River Region Medical Center by Deputy Warren County Coroner Kelda Bailess, she said this morning. She said Ross died of head and chest injuries.

Email newsletter signup

Sign up for The Vicksburg Post's free newsletters

Check which newsletters you would like to receive
  • Vicksburg News: Sent daily at 5 am
  • Vicksburg Sports: Sent daily at 10 am
  • Vicksburg Living: Sent on 15th of each month

No autopsy was ordered, Bailess said, but toxicology tests were to be made.

The wreck was reported to E-911 at 7:39 p.m., Riggs said, and Bailess pronounced Ross dead at 9:34, she said.

Ross’ Ford F-150 collided with a Dish Network van driven by James Walker, 35, 5033 Rollingwood Estates, in the westbound lanes of I-20, Riggs said. Ross was eastbound, and Walker was westbound.

Walker was airlifted by helicopter from the scene to University Medical Center in Jackson, where he was in serious condition this morning, a hospital spokesman said.

A Chevrolet Silverado driven by Hercules McBride rear-ended the van, and McBride and his passenger, Flora McBride, were taken to River Region Medical Center where they were treated and released, said Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol spokesman Cpl. Odis Easterling.

The McBrides’ address could not be confirmed this morning.

I-20’s two westbound lanes were closed to all traffic for about two hours while emergency crews worked to clear the wreckage.

The fatal wreck was the seventh in Warren County outside the city this year, in addition to two reported inside the city limits.