Posted 11:35 am Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Man, Child Die In Wreck Near Jacksonville
By LAUREN GROVER
Staff Writer
JACKSONVILLE — A 23-year-old Elkhart man veered and lost control of his pickup on U.S. Highway 79 just west of town, rolling his truck into a pine tree and killing himself and a 3-year-old passenger on Monday evening. A 2-year-old passenger was flown to a Tyler hospital.
Staff Writer
JACKSONVILLE — A 23-year-old Elkhart man veered and lost control of his pickup on U.S. Highway 79 just west of town, rolling his truck into a pine tree and killing himself and a 3-year-old passenger on Monday evening. A 2-year-old passenger was flown to a Tyler hospital.
Gary Lynn McShan was driving eastbound at 5:55 p.m. on Highway 79 near County Road 3210 when his right tires dropped to the shoulder, said Department of Public Safety Trooper Jimmy Dunklin.
McShan overcorrected, swerving his vehicle across the westbound lane where he spun 180 degrees, rolled the cab into a pine tree and broke it off as the pickup flipped and came to rest in a thicket, Dunklin said.
Crushed by the tree, McShan and the 3-year-old were pronounced dead on the scene by Justice of the Peace Theresa Phifer, of Alto. Dunklin said it did not appear alcohol was involved.
Jacksonville Volunteer Firefighters helped remove a 2-year-old from the backseat of the mangled truck.
The 2-year-old was flown by helicopter to East Texas Medical Center in Tyler with “lacerations all over” the dispatcher said.
Both children had been restrained in booster seats, Dunklin said. Phifer said she’s ordering autopsies for the deceased.
“It happens too often,” Dunklin said. “People, when their tires go onto the shoulder, they jerk the wheel too hard.”
If a driver drops to the shoulder, he should ease his way back onto the road and not hurry the motion, Dunklin said.
