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| An accident reconstruction specialist from the Highway Patrol takes photographs of the mangled car in which three people died Wednesday evening in a collision on Cartee Road southwest of Farmington. Three people in another car were also injured in the accident.Daily Journal photo by Leroy Sigman |
Three dead after head-on collision
Three people were killed and three others injured Wednesday evening in a near head-on collision on Cartee Road southwest of Farmington.
The accident occurred on a hillcrest about one-half mile west of Route AA shortly before 6:30 p.m.
All three persons killed in the accident were in one car, driven by 33-year-old Rhonda Hutson of 3552 Cartee Road. The passengers in her car were identified by the Highway Patrol as 12-year-old Carolyn Malady and 44-year-old Mary M. Riddle. Both passengers had the same home address as the driver.
Seriously injured in the collision were 16-year-old Ryan J. Armantrout of nearby Route AA, the driver of the other car, and a passenger, 15-year-old Skyler Sullivan of Doe Run. Moderately injured was 18- year-old Kara Hunt of Farmington.
Armantrout was taken by Air Evac ambulance to Barnes Hospital in St. Louis while Sullivan was transported by Arch Helicopter Service to St. Louis Children's Hospital. Hunt was taken by ambulance to Parkland Medical Center at Farmington.
Coroner Jim Coplin pronounced the other three victims dead at the scene. They were taken from the scene to the morgue at Mineral Area Regional Medical Center.
According to the patrol, the accident occurred as the eastbound Buick driven by Armantrout and the westbound Chevrolet Cavalier driven by Hutson "met at the hillcrest and struck nearly head-on at or near the center of the roadway."
After the collision, Armantrout's vehicle traveled nearly 50 yards to the east, overturned and came to rest on its top in the tree line on the south side of the roadway. The patrol said Armantrout and Sullivan were ejected as the vehicle overturned.
The car driven by Hutson came to rest in the roadway right at the point of impact, which was at the drive to the residence at 4251 Cartee Road.
The patrol said only Hunt, a passenger in Armantrout's car, was wearing her seat belt. All five other victims of the accident were not using a safety device.
Coplin said the wreckage was extensive and that 12-year-old Carolyn Malady was found on her mother's lap. He said that it was speculated that the adults in the vehicle were attempting to teach the girl to drive.
"People need to be warned that this is a very dangerous thing to do," Coplin said.
Both the Doe Run and Farmington fire departments responded to the accident scene to provide emergency medical attention and remove victims from the heavily damaged wreckage. Several units also responded from the County Ambulance Service.
The two helicopters used to transport victims to St. Louis landed on the lawn of the residence adjacent to the accident scene.
The Highway Patrol and Sheriff's Department shut down Cartee Road to all traffic for several hours. After all the victims had been removed from the scene, an accident reconstruction from the patrol began its intensive investigation into the collision.
